Anomaly
by CorvidaeCorvusCorax
Summary: Some secrets are better left that way... Toadfic. Completed 3.19.10
1. Prologue

**Anomaly**

**By CorvidaeCorvusCorax**

**Prologue**

Getting chased down by humans is one thing; getting chased down by God only knows what is something completely different. After nearly dying not too long ago, this isn't exactly what Toad thought of as a "good day." He noticed the two of them following him, but they had no shape to them, they were like shadows, just under the dim yellow glow of the street lights. His instincts kicked in and after turning a corner, he made a run for it.

Now, running was usually a very easy thing for him to do. Nothing had been the same since Liberty Island, and it had been a while since he had actually done anything physical. He was fast, alright, just not up to his usual level. His brain had a tendency of going haywire every once in a while, too, which didn't help. He knew that he could run up a wall and jump across rooftops with ease, then _why wasn't he doing it_? His brain snapped back to normal and he ran into an alley, jumping high up toward a fire escape, then half running, half crawling across the brick wall and up onto the roof.

"He went this way!" One shadow called, from not too far away, still down on the street below.

Slowly, Toad caught his breath. His lungs felt as though they were about to burst, the burns across his body twinging with every movement, his legs feeling oddly rubbery. He looked over the ledge, just to see where those shadows may have gone.

The alley was shrouded in darkness, and his eyes would have usually been able to see clearly. Slapping his temple a little, he figured it was only a hallucination. He would just go back to that little hole in the wall place above the Chinese restaurant and get some sleep, God knew he needed it...

Turning around, however, his "hallucinations" proved to be more than just that. His eyes met that of a half darkened face, but not quickly enough to see what it was. He tried backing up, but it was too late.

The clicking of a Taser gun rattled the eerily quiet rooftop. The green man crumpled to the floor, twitching inhumanly. After a moment, it all stopped, and he lay there, semi conscious, breathing heavily. What he heard next was fuzzy, diluted, as though the pair of shadows were talking underwater...

"_Good work," One voice said._

"_We should get him back to the Facility," The other replied, "Before people start getting suspicious..."_

With a barely audible groan, he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * * *

Charlotte Fournier's eyes snapped open. This wasn't good, not good at all. Placing her wire frame glasses on her face, she clicked the lamp beside her bed on and grabbed for the phone.

"What did you see?" Dr. Gideon Barnabas asked from the other end. She had woken him up, but she was the only other person that called him at three in the morning.

"Nothing good," Charlotte shook her head. The French accent she was born with had faded with age, but in desperate times it would suddenly reappear like a magic trick.

"Well, what was it?" He had a school to run, God damn it, and tomorrow was the beginning of a new semester. He had orientations to go through and student ID's to hand out, greet the new students, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

"It's about my daughter," She replied, "I'm scheduling an appointment to see you tomorrow, we can talk more about it there." _Click, _she hung up on him.

He sighed. Precognitives were hands down the worst conversationalists to walk the earth. He would be able to rest easy tonight, regardless of what tomorrow would bring, seventy years experience wouldn't allow him to lie awake at night. As for Charlotte Fournier, he knew it was a different story entirely.

* * * *

Monday mornings were generally well for Victoria Ward, especially when the semester started. Her roommate, Mildred Clarke had woken her up fifteen minutes earlier than usual to announce the new class schedule, then they headed down to the Student Cafeteria for breakfast.

"I finally got switched out of Mr. Langdon's Algebra II, and now I'm in Professor Durand's Advanced Literature class!" Mildred was excited and Victoria was happy for her. Mildred wasn't a math or science kind of person, but rather a creative one, "How about you?"

"Same classes, same times as last semester," Victoria shrugged, biting into a Granny Smith apple. Just as she did, a girl she never met before came up to the table, standing directly behind Mildred. She was young, short, wearing the school uniform, her long, curly blond hair frizzing out in every direction, carrying a food tray and a very heavy looking messenger bag. Mildred caught Victoria, who was looking behind her, and turned around.

"Uh, hi," The young girl smiled, "I'm kind of new to this building and there aren't any tables left, can I sit here?" She must've been in Building B, maybe around Year Seven at most. If she had been in any other building than A or B she would've been at her own cafeteria.

"Year Twelve's only," Mildred stated coldly, then turned back to Victoria. The young girl paused, shooting a dirty look at the back of Mildred's head, glanced back at Victoria, then stalked off, "Stupid newbies, right?"

Victoria, who had been entranced by the young girl shook herself back to reality, "Uh, yeah. Totally." She came up with some excuse to leave and headed up to her first class.

It went by slowly, for some odd reason. The new students were standing in front of the class, awaiting their ID's, then they all (including the veteran students) had to say a few details about themselves. The new students were modest, as usual, but it wouldn't be too long until they either turned into a Mildred or a shy geek. A week, tops, and they would be segregated into cliques. The oldest was Victoria's age, eighteen, and the youngest was about fifteen. Advanced Physics was a difficult class to get into, so Victoria secretly congratulated these "stupid newbies."

Then, about halfway through class, Mrs. Fournier, the occasional substitute teacher and former French teacher, knocked on the door, "Victoria Ward, the Headmaster would like to see you," she announced. Victoria sat in confusion at first, wondering what could possibly be wrong.

"Well, Victoria?" Mr. Thompson held his arm out toward the door, as though he wanted her to hurry up, "Feel free to ask classmates for any missing assignments." Victoria smiled, grabbed her bag, and hurried out the door after Mrs. Fournier.

"So, what exactly did I do?" She asked the older woman, slinging her bag over her shoulders and running a hand through her reddish brown hair.

"Oh, nothing," Mrs. Fournier smiled, "Just a secret assignment we'd like you to help us with."

_We_? Since when did the teachers ever refer to themselves collectively? Every teacher worked alone, and hardly sought other peoples' opinions. They reached the headmaster's office, and Mrs. Fournier grabbed Victoria's sleeve as she went to knock on the door.

"I would advise that your friend...Mildred be nicer to the new students," Mrs. Fournier warned in an ominous tone.

"Oh, _that_," Victoria always warned Mildred to watch her mouth, but...

"Precisely," Mrs. Fournier nodded.

_She got me in trouble, that lousy..._ Before she could say anything more, the door swung open of it's own accord and she was somewhat pulled in by an unseen force, Mrs. Fournier right behind her.

"Good morning, Miss Ward," Dr. Gideon Barnabas, the man who made the school possible, sat at his large desk, white hair littering the top of his head in tufts. He may have looked old and gray, but the man had the spirit of a seventeen year old on an energy drink binge, giving her a very large smile as he spoke, and then turned his attention to Mrs. Fournier for a moment, "And hello, Mrs. Fournier. Thank you so much for gathering Miss Ward for me. I would have preferred sending a note to her teacher and having _him_ dismiss her, but I guess having a precognitive at the school comes in handy when looking for students."

_Oh, jeez, what did Mildred get me into? _Victoria thought, but certainly didn't have the courage to say.

"Anyway, I bet you're wondering why you are here?" Dr. Barnabas asked, making Victoria jump. She nodded, "I know that you will be graduating this year, correct?" Another nod, "And you have not had experience using your abilities out in the field?" She shook her head no, "And you have had perfect attendance since your schooling here began?" She nodded, "Then it's settled, Victoria is the girl for the job."

"She does _look_ similar, but I don't know if it's her," Mrs. Fournier frowned, looking Victoria over, "A little taller, too soft spoken, you know?"

_What the Hell is that supposed to mean?_ Victoria just stood there, stock still like a mannequin in a department store as Fournier looked her over.

"_But_," Dr. Barnabas interjected, "She is also highly intelligent, very logical, can think on her feet..."

"She will have to do," Mrs. Fournier nodded, waving her hand as if to say 'whatever.'

"What exactly am I supposed to be doing?" Victoria finally asked, tired of the elders acting as though she wasn't in the room.

"I want you to go to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in New York," Dr. Barnabas stated, "We need information."

"What information?" She asked.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you," The old man shook his head, "Accompanying you will be Mrs. Fournier's daughter, who I am told you have already met."

"Have I?" Victoria shook her head. Sure, it was possible, but there were almost fifty new students she had introduced herself to.

The door to the office opened, making Victoria turn.

"Am I early?" Standing in the doorway was a girl, wearing the uniform, her long, curly blond hair frizzing out in every direction.

"Hello, Lucy," Mrs. Fournier smiled.

"Uh, hi, mom," Lucy waved. She entered the office, stepping past Victoria, and plopping down on one of the seats in front of the desk. Victoria glanced at Mrs. Fournier, then at "Lucy."

"This is Victoria Ward, a Year Twelve," Dr. Barnabas pointed at her, "Was this the girl you saw in your vision?"

_Both precogs, too? Damn, _Victoria sighed inwardly.

Lucy looked back at Victoria, then shrugged, "I don't really know. I couldn't see too clearly."

"Is that all the proof you need?" Dr. Barnabas asked Fournier, but Victoria thought maybe there was a chance that he was talking to _her_, too.

"Lucy, you and Miss Ward will go to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, and gain access to information pertaining to a fellow mutant," Dr. Barnabas said, then turned to Victoria, "You will leave in an hour. Pack your things and meet Dr. Hedgewick in the foyer. He'll give you the rest of the information."

"And maybe," Fournier added, "While you are preparing, you can reintroduce yourselves, try to get familiar with each other?"

Lucy, who turned back to Victoria, was beaming. Today was a good day, indeed.


	2. Chapter I: Familiarity

**Anomaly**

**By CorvidaeCorvusCorax**

**Chapter I: Familiarity**

"Why did they pick _me_?" Victoria huffed in a low voice, going through her dresser and collecting some of the items inside. Lucy Fournier sat on the edge of her neatly made bed, with a sketch pad in hand and a charcoal pencil in the other.

"You're eighteen, you're a Year Twelve, you're smart, you're friendly," Lucy ticked off some examples, "You know, I just got to this school this year, because my powers didn't activate until over the last semester. Mom wanted to home school me, but _I _insisted that I come here."

"Why?" Victoria asked, stuffing her clothes into a small weekend bag, not entirely aware of the girl's presence.

"Well, you know my mom used to teach here, and I know your mom and dad used to teach here, and plus, you go to school here, which is cool!" Lucy giggled, "And I want to be able to get into a good college."

Victoria paused, her brow raised, "How old are you?"

"Thirteen," Lucy nodded, as though she didn't understand why Victoria had asked. Of course she understood, the school wouldn't allow anything below a one seventy IQ. Which meant that this younger girl was very good with handling sarcasm, which would take most of the fun out of this trip. Victoria shook her head and rifled through the closet she and Mildred shared, looking for anything she might need, "You like being smart, don't you?"

"It's nice, I guess," Victoria's voice strained as she tried to reach the school sweater in the back of the closet, which may have held money in the pocket, Victoria could vaguely remember leaving change in there one day, "Do you like art?"

"I was going to take inventing, but decided to take Creative classes instead," Lucy motioned to the sketch pad, "I think my mom already knows what I want to do with my life, so she just lets me make my own decisions. She's usually right."

"Well, that's what's hard about having precogs as parents," Victoria smirked, remembering Teddy, whose mother was a precog, and his father was a mimic. He was a trouble maker, but luckily his parents would call ahead of time and set him straight...or else.

"But your parents are psycho-kinetics," Lucy replied.

"Yeah, but I can still imagine how difficult things could possibly be," Victoria added.

The younger girl shrugged, "Sometimes it is, yeah. Because I _want_ to make my own decisions, but I still want to ask mom what is going to happen. Luckily, I'm a precog, too, and it's only a matter of time before I can use it to do things without worrying too much about the consequences."

Victoria frowned a little. Lucy was a young precog, she'd learn eventually, "Come on," She grabbed the bag from her bed, "I'm assuming you've already packed, right? We should go grab something to eat before we meet Dr. Hedgewick."

Lucy only smiled, reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out a Ziploc bag filled halfway with some pretzels, "Got it covered."

Sighing and placing her bag back onto the bed, Victoria smirked, "So your mom wanted me to get to know you, right?"

* * * *

"How is our guest doing?" Charles Xavier, or rather "Professor" as his students affectionately called him, looking in the direction of the Medic Lab, which was probably one of the best and closest things to a hospital a school could ever have. It was modified to handle and help understand mutant abilities and injuries. Dr. Jean Grey had been keeping a close eye on the one called "Toad."

Xavier had a file on him in the Protocols. Toad was a very difficult man to catch, due to his mutant ability and because the only other place that had files on him destroyed them, and of course, he was formerly part of the Brotherhood. Erik Lensherr was very capable of hiding fugitives. Toad was originally from York, England. No one knew anything about his parents, not even Toad. However, who Toad was before he joined Xavier wasn't necessary information. How Toad was beaten, almost to death, electrocuted and drowned on the same evening four months before that, and was on the run from "shadows," had come to find Xavier's school.

"He's doing well, actually," Dr. Grey replied, "Most of what we thought were injuries were just scars, he _survived _the incident at Liberty Island, amazingly. The most recent injuries are bruises and cuts, probably from a pocket knife owned by some gang members, and the memories of when this happened are actually _missing_. It's almost like someone beat him up, then wiped his mind clean."

"That means it wasn't a mutant hate group that did it," Xavier stated.

"Maybe it was just gang territory, there are plenty of mutant gangs in New York City," Jean shrugged.

"Maybe he saw something he shouldn't have?" There were too many questions, Xavier realized. What they were dealing with was something far beyond "mutant territory." Why would they have attacked him for that reason, if Toad was alone? Why would they hurt a fellow mutant? Why were his memories erased? They would simply have to wait until the green man regained consciousness.

Later that day, Xavier sat in his study. Class had just been dismissed, the students were going to go to lunch and enjoy the sun shining outside and the nice weather before the winter came barreling in...

The phone rang. He reached over and answered it with a very professional sounding, "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Charles Xavier speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hello Charles," A man on the other end replied, "It's Dr. Barnabas, I'm calling on behalf of my school and Mrs. Charlotte Fournier. I apologize if this seems short notice..."

"Has something happened?" Xavier asked.

Dr. Barnabas sighed into the phone, "No, at least, _not yet_. Fournier won't give me all the details yet, but I'm sending two of my students, Victoria Ward and Lucy Fournier, to your school. They'll tell you everything, as long as nothing gets in the way."

"What is this all about?"

"It's about a mutant you are currently holding at your school. Fournier thinks that something will happen, and the mutant will be involved. I'm just sending the two down there to gather information."

"I could easily _send _the files to you..."

"No, no. Fournier _insists_ that the students go. Precogs, you know?"

"When will they be arriving?" Xavier asked.

"Fournier guesses it'll be sometime this afternoon, if everything goes smoothly," Barnabas replied, "I don't know what she's planning, but the outcome might save my school and _yours_."

Taking a breath, Xavier stated, "Alright, I'll be sure to welcome them personally when they arrive."

* * * *

_Do not open until 10:41_, written on the envelope in small, all capital letters, presumably in Mrs. Fournier's hand. Victoria sat in the passenger seat of the old car, glancing in the mirror every few seconds to look at Lucy. She had her head bent down, concentrating on her notebook. Victoria looked at the clock, which read 10:32, then at Dr. Hedgewick.

"I will be dropping you off at the North Station in Boston," He explained, "The instructions are in the envelope. Mrs. Fournier is adamant that you follow each of them precisely, or else something could go horribly wrong."

Victoria nodded, though she was itching to see what secrets the envelope held. Was it something simple or some kind of secret code?

At 10:40, they arrived at the station. It was quiet, all the people had already boarded and gone to work. All that was left were a small crowd, waiting in line for passes and some waiting at the boarding area for the next train.

She went to open the envelope, but Lucy stopped her, "_Not until 10:41_."

"What's the difference, it's only one minute," Victoria asked.

"Very Bad Things could happen," Lucy warned, her voice ominous.

Victoria checked her watch and waited. 10:41! Carefully opening it, she pulled the contents out. A piece of paper, folded, labeled: "Careful planning went into this, Ward. Before you act, read each of these." It was Mrs. Fournier's handwriting, of course, but it looked a little messy and last minute.

Number one was relatively simple, not as cryptic as most precogs would usually write. _You will find train passes in the envelope, one child, one adult. Board train 2105, Blue Line, at 10:45._

"What does it say?" Lucy asked.

There were no instructions saying Victoria couldn't tell her, but ignored the younger girl and pulled two train passes from the envelope. She handed one to Lucy, "We have to find train 2105, and quickly, we only have five minutes."

"Wait, what happens next?" Lucy grabbed Victoria by the sleeve, stopping her.

"Uh..." She read over the second line and read it out loud, "_Give the quarter in your left pocket to the homeless man_."

"Find the homeless man, I guess," Lucy started toward the station, Victoria following closely behind her, looking through the crowds, "_There_!"

Sitting in the back area was a grungy looking man holding a cup. Lucy shoved her hand into Victoria's pocket and pulled out the quarter, then made her way toward the man.

"Here you go," Lucy smiled, gently tossing the quarter into the cup. Victoria had only just caught up with her when the younger girl headed for the boarding area.

"Hey, I thought precogs were supposed to be thinkers, you know? Thinking things out before they act?" Victoria asked, pulling the strap of her bag back into place atop her shoulder and running a hand through her reddish brown hair.

"Someone else already thought everything out for us," Lucy pointed at the paper, "And besides, he's a homeless guy, what's the worst that could possibly happen?"

When the train arrived, Lucy insisted that Victoria read the next line before boarding, "_Sit toward the back_." Lucy, of course, weaved her way quickly through the aisles, and it was difficult for Victoria to keep up, "I call the window seat!"

_Damn precogs_, Victoria growled, then plopped down next to the blond girl.

"You shouldn't run off like that," She told Lucy, who had pulled the notebook out of her bag again and was scribbling something down.

"Why, you can't keep up?" Lucy smirked, not looking up from her book, "You should really sit across from me, you know. Studies show that it helps people communicate more, plus it guarantees privacy if you put your bag on the seat. That way, no one will know what we're doing."

"We're not doing anything," Victoria rebutted, "Your mother is." But Victoria complied anyway, taking the seat next to the window and placing her bag next to her.

"What does it say now?" Lucy changed the subject.

"_Give a tissue to the elderly woman in the booth next to you_," Victoria said, reading the paper, "Got a tissue?"

Lucy pulled a folded one out of her pocket, smiling, "Mom told me to carry them around, just in case. Although, precogs can usually _know_ when they are going to sneeze. It's just an old habit of hers I guess."

Victoria looked to the booth across the aisle, though it was empty, "What elderly woman are we talking about?"

"_M'excuse, ce siège est-il pris_?" Victoria looked up to see, sure enough, an elderly french woman, but she was pointing to the booth across the aisle.

"I'm sorry?" Victoria asked, "I don't think I understand?"

"_Pardon_," The woman smirked, "This seat? Is it taken?" She reiterated by pointing at the booth again.

"Uh, no," Victoria shook her head.

Before the woman could thank her, she covered her nose with her sleeve and sneezed loudly. Victoria instinctively held out the tissue, "Thank you, young lady." The woman sat down and didn't seem to look in their direction again.

Victoria shrugged it off and looked down at the paper. Lucy, who was immersed in her writing, didn't see her look, _Ask Lucy about her notebook_.

"So, are you going to be a writer or something?" Victoria asked. Lucy looked up, her eyes wide.

"Uh, I dunno," The younger girl shrugged, "Maybe."

"What are you writing?"

"A little of this, a little of that."

"Visions?"

Lucy smirked, "How'd you guess?"

"I don't have to be a psychic to understand things, I just do," Victoria shrugged. The train started moving, which distracted her for a moment, "I wish it was my ability, but it's not."

"You're a psycho-kinetic, right?" Lucy said, as though she were preparing a follow-up question.

Awkwardly, Victoria nodded and replied, "Yeah."

"Maybe it's just part of it," Lucy could and might have been right, but for now, Victoria blamed it on her intelligence, "That makes you lucky, you know. People aren't coming up to you at school and asking for the answers for a test that isn't happening until March. They just know that you're smart and won't give them the answers because you can trick them. I can't, because I write everything down. If I don't tell them, they'll get the answers out of my notebooks."

"Then why write it down?" Victoria asked.

"So I can remember what I see," Lucy replied, "The future changes, depending on our actions, which is why mom told you to do exactly as she says. I'm nowhere near as good as my mom, but maybe, if I write things down, I can train myself to remember things and plan carefully."

"Let's just start with not running around when we get instructions to do things," Victoria smirked, "You could get hurt doing that, which is why your mom wants you to stick around me."

_Order the grilled cheese for lunch_, Victoria read, to herself, "Your mom is a very careful planner, very specific."

"Yeah, and...?"

"It worries me."

* * * *

Victoria checked her watch again, this time it read 12:31. Time wasn't moving fast enough for her taste. At least with school, everything was set in stone and the schedule was very simple. First math, then science, then inventing, then et cetera. Outside of the school, she felt vulnerable.

_Look around. See anyone familiar?_ Lucy had told her to read the next one a very long time ago, but there was nothing familiar on this train. Her family and friends were all from the same town and went to the same school. On the train, there were only some business men, old women, and a homeless guy...

"Hey, look," Lucy motioned her head up toward the front of the train. It was the homeless man. Victoria had to turn to look at him, "Wait...what does it say to do next? Maybe we're supposed to help him some more?"

_Do not stare at him. He is carrying a weapon and has an ability I like to call Illusion_. At that moment, Victoria turned back around, then hissed at Lucy, "_Don't stare..._It's rude. Besides, look," She handed the paper to the younger girl, who read it very quickly, then handed it back.

"According to this, he's gone insane from his ability. It says: _Just a very different perspective of how things may have been if you hadn't seen our school_," Lucy stated matter-of-factly, "But it doesn't say we're supposed to help him. By the way, the next thing on the list is to ask me something."

"I don't think you're supposed to read _that_," Victoria snidely replied, then looked down at the paper.

"I didn't, I was just reading the part you told me to and saw only a little part of the next thing on the list," Lucy replied truthfully.

_See what Lucy is drawing now? _Victoria glanced at the girl's notebook, which lay open in her lap. It was a green silhouette, _Ask her about it._

"What's_ that_?" Victoria pointed to it.

Defensively, Lucy grabbed the notebook and held it up against her chest, "Nothing."

"Your mom wants me to know, obviously," Victoria held the list up.

"It's a Very Bad Man, and he's going to help do Very Bad Things unless we stop him," Lucy replied, shrugging, "I can't see it clearly, but I think that's why we're going to New York. If we don't stop him, no one else will."

_Great_, Victoria shook her head and looked out the window, _A precog who has seen the Bad Things, and we're the ones responsible for it. Damn precogs._

* * * *

_Look for two girls in school uniforms_, Scott read the post-it note the Professor had given him. No girls in school uniforms, at least not yet. He looked at the clock on the car radio, which read two o'clock exactly. For now, he just had to wait.

"_Now arriving at Pennsylvania Station_," The automated voice announced over the intercom. Victoria and Lucy glanced at each other.

"The last thing on the list says: _2:05, arrive at Pennsylvania Station_," Victoria read the last lines on the paper, "Then: _Look for the blue car, find the man with red sunglasses. He will take you to your next destination. Final time, two twenty seven_."

"Damn, mom is good at this," Lucy checked her watch, which read two-oh-four. Victoria gathered her things and went to stand up, "No! She said _two-oh-five_!"

"Just stretching my legs," Victoria countered, "Don't worry. Your mom has gotten every little detail right, and not a lot of precogs can do that. Hell, she even predicted which pocket my quarter was in. I'm in no position to doubt her."

Scott waited, leaning against the hood of his car, until he saw two girls, clad in brown blazers and plaid skirts, stepped came out through the doors of the train station. They walked in his direction, despite the fact that he was told that _he_ would have to look for them inside.

"Red sunglasses, blue car, _damn_," The younger, blond one (who couldn't have been much older than twelve) stated, looking up at him, "I should try that look.

"_If_ sunglasses were allowed at our school," The taller, older one replied, then introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Victoria Ward, this is Lucy Fournier. We're from Winifred Augusta's School of Innovation outside of Boston. You must be from Xavier's."

"That I am," Scott smirked, "I'm here to escort you back to Westchester." He grabbed Victoria's bag and opened the door for Lucy, who insisted on holding onto her bag for safe keeping.

"What else does the list say?" Lucy asked from the back seat.

Victoria pulled the now folded paper from her blazer pocket, "Uh, there's nothing left. Just a little note at the bottom that says, _Good luck_. Jeez, why didn't she write that first?"

"What's 'the list' for, if you don't mind my asking?" Scott asked, glancing over at her.

"Well, my mom's a precognitive," Lucy explained, "She gave us instructions to follow so nothing bad would happen," she then asked Victoria, "Is there anything else in the envelope?"

Victoria pulled the envelope out of her other pocket, "Let's see. There's a note, but it's addressed to you, not me. That's it." She handed the envelope back to Lucy, who frowned.

"It's from my mom, but it just says, '_Goodbye, I love you_,'" Lucy grimaced, "Come on, mom, I'm _thirteen_, I can handle myself."

"Yeah, and the only reason I'm here is to watch over you," Victoria mumbled, "Lucy, did you see anything on the train?"

Lucy shrugged, "I saw some guy pick his nose and wipe it on his jacket--"

"Not like_ that_," Victoria stopped her, blushing and turning to look out the window so Scott couldn't see her embarrassment.

"I can't tell you yet," Lucy replied, "Very Bad Things could happen..."

"Very Bad Things always happen," Victoria argued.

Lucy quieted down, "I'll tell you when we get to the school."

Victoria had a Very Bad Feeling about this, and somehow, she knew that Lucy did, too.

* * *

_A/N: Pronunciation of character names: Fournier: For__-NEE__-ay, Barnabas: BAR__-nah__-bus. Precogs can see the future, psycho__-kinetics are created from having two parents with psionic abilities, and I know, there's a lack of Toad, but don't worry, he'll show up next chapter, I promise! Please feel free to review or tell me how I can improve my story. Some of the buttons on my keyboard are broken, but I can easily fix any mistakes you find._


	3. Chapter II: New Surroundings

**Anomaly**

**By CorvidaeCorvusCorax**

**Chapter II: New Surroundings**

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters: although it was built for the same purpose that Winifred Augusta's was, it felt entirely different. Of course, it was kind of supposed to, new schools usually did, Victoria realized. The air was filled with happy students chattering away, much like her school, though the lack of uniforms was enlightening in a way. Students made strange glances at her and Lucy as they passed. Lucy didn't seem to notice and was looking around, her curious green eyes wide. Victoria had no choice but to let it go, but made it a point to tell herself that she saw it, memorizing the students' faces, just in case something were to go amiss later.

They were led to Professor Xavier's study, where the doors were closed. Scott explained, "He's just teaching a class. It should be done soon." He was slightly rattled by the prediction Mrs. Fournier had made about the arrival time, and that she described Scott in her list. Scott explained that he almost didn't go to the train station, but Jean would've gone in his place, then asked if the list mentioned that. Grinning from ear to ear, Lucy said 'no,' but went on to explain that her mother's visions were always right.

Some students exited the room, some talking about their next classes or homework they needed to finish. Victoria didn't catch all of it, but saw one girl glance back at them, then speak in a hushed tone to a friend. Scott hurried them into the office.

It wasn't as big as Dr. Barnabas' or as oddly furnished, but it was cozy. There was a white board with words like "ethics" and "right and wrong" written on the board.

"It's like Logic class, which you might have to take next semester," Victoria whispered to Lucy, "Except Dr. Hedgewick uses bigger words." Lucy noted that and nodded.

"Ah, you must be Victoria Ward," Who she guessed must've been Xavier, a bald man in a wheelchair, smiled at her, then looked at Lucy, "And you're Lucy Fournier."

"Yep," Lucy nodded, pulling her school ID out of her bag and showing it to him. Lucy was being a little overzealous, but Victoria surmised that the younger girl was only nervous. After all, the first day of school is not the best time to be sent to a completely different state. Victoria also remembered that her mother, Mrs. Fournier wanted to _home school _her, meaning they were close.

"We were sent here to gather information," Lucy stated, rifling through her bag again to find another envelope. She handed it to Xavier, "Not just on the mutant gangs, but on a mutant we believe you are holding here at the school."

Victoria's eyes grew wide, with both surprise and annoyance, _You lying little...That's what the note from your mother said..._

Xavier opened the letter and read through it quickly, "I see, it seems as though your mother would like you to stay _here_ while we try to access information based on the mutant gang attacks and kidnappings."

_Say what? Kidnappings? Is that why Mrs. Fournier wanted Lucy here? _Victoria knew that this deal was too good to be true, _And more importantly, why did _I_ get dragged along?_

"I understand that my school's academic standards and class regiments are quite different from yours, but I'd like to take this opportunity to study how the two schools, that including the students, could possibly get along," Xavier stated, "Though I'm sure you will all get along just fine. Consider it just a social experiment."

"Great," Victoria smiled, and though she had trained herself to hide her emotions, she had a feeling he knew exactly what she felt. This was bad. Kidnappings, mutant gangs, anti mutant gangs, and Mrs. Fournier sent Lucy to New York to protect her. At least that part made sense. Now what about Lucy's notebook and the silhouette? Or what did Fournier mean by protecting her daughter, to what extent?

"And since this is just a social experiment, I'd like you both to meet my students and we'll prepare your schedules and find rooms for you, feel free to leave your belongings here," Xavier smirked, as if telling Victoria that he understood her unhappiness and was trying to make up for it. Lucy clutched her bag tightly when Scott offered a hand to take it. Victoria held hers, too, unsure of what else to do.

"Thanks," Victoria muttered, grabbing Lucy by the shoulder, and bypassing Mr. Summers. Once they got out in the hall, Victoria was finally able to ask questions, starting with, "First of all: The letter? That's what it really said?!"

"Yeah, mom told me not to tell you about it, though," Lucy shrugged it off, "Besides, this is cool. We get to be like foreign exchange students. We can be whoever we want here, and I want to be able to make friends with some of these guys." She eyed a trio of girls who were waiting, Victoria guessed, for class, "Who do you wanna be?"

"I wanna go back to my school," Victoria hissed in a low voice, "I grew up in that school, it was my home. Hell, my family has been attending that school for generations."

"Starting with Thaddeus Ward," Lucy replied, not turning to face her.

"How do you know about that?" Victoria asked, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around.

"Oh, please, mom told me everything about our school," Lucy smirked, "Does the name Penelope Lafayette ring a bell?"

"Yeah, one of the founders," Victoria nodded, then it clicked, "You're related to her?"

"She was a precog, just like me and my mom," Lucy nodded, "Thaddeus was a telekinetic, his wife, Minerva, was a psychometric, am I right?" Victoria nodded, "I studied genealogy over the summer, with my mom. She wanted be to learn about my history."

"And _mine_?"

"Well, no," Lucy shook her head, "I was just curious. And I mean, your parents are _famous..."_

"And your mom isn't?" Victoria's brows furrowed. This is why she didn't want to get involved. Thirteen year old's were the most infuriating thing to walk the earth. Lucy reminded her of someone, but who?

"You have the potential to be one of the mutant world's most powerful psionics," Lucy shrugged, "I've seen it happen before."

"In one of your visions?" Victoria asked, genuinely curious this time, "Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

Lucy nodded, "But things change. I saw it over the summer. But last night, when I got to the school, something happened. It _changed_, Victoria. Unless we help this mutant we're looking for, he'll kill us both."

Victoria was quiet for a minute, "So what do we do?"

"I don't know, at least, not yet," Lucy replied, "I need more time to see things."

The expression on Lucy's face made something click in Victoria's mind. Who did Lucy remind her of? Victoria realized that Lucy was exactly like _her_, and it scared her.

* * * *

"_Good work," One voice said._

"_We should get him back to the Facility," The other replied, "Before people start getting __suspicious..."_

_The voices were hard to hear, like something had been covering his ears. It was dark. The next thing he could see was the inside of a dingy cell._

"_How do you know _he _is the one we were looking for?" A new voice asked, from outside the cell. Silhouettes were blocking the light and he couldn't get a clear view of his captors._

"_That's just it, sir," He recognized this voice as belonging to one of the men than attacked him, "We got word from a psychometric he bumped into..." The voice faded. The image quickly shifted._

"_Hey man, you don't belong here..." A tall man with tattoos littering his tanned skin said, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, "I suggest you leave..."_

"_Look, I don't want any trouble," He replied, but it obviously wasn't the correct answer. Next thing he knew, there were half a dozen much larger mutants on him. He was too weak to fight...Eventually he just blacked out._

_The image shifted again, this time to a large gate, a mansion sitting some distance away. He would be able to jump the fence alright, but he knew about security defense systems and didn't want to take the chance. With a shaky hand, he pushed the call button. An aftershock of pain shook him and he fell to his knees._

"_Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, please state your business..."_

"_Name's...Toad...Hurt..." He could barely get the words out, "Help...somebody, help..."_

He opened his eyes with a jolt, only to look up and see a pretty red head standing over him, her hands to his temples.

"You seem to be healing well," She smirked, "I think it has something to do with your physical mutation. You're lucky, Toad."

Wait a minute...He recognized that face. She was from Liberty Island. He tried moving, but found it to be quite impossible, from either drugs or restraints, he didn't know.

"You had your memories altered somehow," Her brow furrowed, "I can't get a clear picture of exactly what happened, but don't worry, if I can't fix it, the Professor might be able to." She walked out of view for a minute, then returned, "Someone came here looking for you, but I don't know if you'll be ready to talk to them yet."

_Talk to who? The ones who did this to me? _He wondered.

"No, someone from another school," She replied, "Until then, we'll make you as comfortable as possible, and we'll try to help you as much as we can." He wondered how she could have possibly knew what he asked, unless...

"I'm a telepath," She explained, "I'm sure you remember me. I'm Dr. Jean Grey."

_Help yourself to my brain, why don't you? _He wanted to sound sarcastic, but was unsure if he came off that way. Speaking without words was new and strange to him.

"I'm sure you want to know what happened just as much as we do," Jean smirked, "Just try and get some rest."

* * * *

Lucy Fournier sat in one of the chairs in the Rec Room, which she took it upon herself to move near the window while the veteran students stared curiously, and would switch from scribbling in her notebook and looking outside and watching the students or the sky, the student known as Rogue couldn't decide. Victoria Ward stood near her, concentrating on the three levitating books and flipping the pages with a slight, graceful movement of her hand—without actually touching the pages.

"Why don't we go introduce ourselves?" John Allerdyce asked, his arms rested behind his head, leaning back in his chair, looking at the new girls.

"Sounds like a good idea," Rogue replied, "What are you up to, John?"

John feigned offendedness, "What? A guy can't be nice?"

"Not unless there's something in it for you," Kitty, the younger girl Rogue had befriended when she came to the school replied, not looking up from her math work.

Lucy stood up and tapped on Victoria's shoulder. Victoria looked down and Lucy held up her notebook for the older girl to see. The older girl snorted and whispered something, making Lucy giggle lightly, before returning to her seat.

Victoria didn't notice the boy coming toward her until she turned around, books still hanging mid-air, and bumped into him. One of the books, _The Time Machine_, dropped to the floor with a muffled _thump._ The boy made a grab for _The Great Cases of Sherlock Holmes_, while she rescued _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland._

"So, you like reading?" The boy asked her. She blushed a little, mostly out of embarrassment, and nodded. He handed her the book, then bent down to pick up the other one off the floor, "You must be new here, I'm John."

"I'm Victoria," She held out her hand, he shook it with a smirk.

"That's a neat trick, you know," John motioned to the books, then imitated 'levitation' with his hands, "Could come in handy."

"It usually does, thanks," Victoria nodded again, "What about you?"

"They call me Pyro for a reason," He smiled, "You can call me that if you like."

"I'll stick with John, I don't think my mother would mind me hanging around a guy called 'Pyro,'" She replied.

"What mommy doesn't know won't hurt her," John shrugged.

Victoria suppressed a laugh, "Believe me, if you only knew."

"Then why'd they send you here?" John asked.

"I was sent here by _my_ school," Victoria had already thought of a lie, "To check out _your_ school. Ours trains mutants, too. Just...differently."

"How many mutant schools are in this country?" John was surprised to hear this, but managed to play it off smoothly.

"A lot more than you'd think," Victoria smirked. Now she had the upper hand, and she'd use her knowledge against him, "Only our school was founded back in the late eighteen-hundreds, when mutants were called 'anomalies'--"

"_Victoria_," Lucy hissed, calling her attention. The younger girl jumped from her seat and shoved the notebook into her hands.

_There are Very Bad Things we have to deal with. Step away from the cute guy_. Victoria sighed, handed the notebook back to Lucy, grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her out of the Rec Room.

"Hey, where are you going?" John called, following after them.

Victoria replied over her shoulder, "Just gotta talk to her, that's all!"

But John wouldn't take no for an answer, "Hey, uh, the school is planning a field trip to the museum sometime next month. I thought, since you know you might be leaving or something, you could ask the Professor to go with us. After all, you're supposed to be learning about our school!"

"Yeah, and...?" Victoria wasn't convinced. She already knew where this conversation was going.

"Maybe I could save you a seat on the bus?" He said desperately. Victoria stopped walking, freezing Lucy in step, and John bumped into her. She spun around, looking thoughtful.

"You're asking me out, and we just met?" Victoria asked, but didn't give him time to answer, "More importantly you want to ask me out on a date that isn't happening until next month? That just doesn't make sense. Now if you'll excuse me, I must have a conversation with Lucy..._in private._"

"I'll take that as a maybe!" He called as he watched the older girl force Lucy down the hallway. He sighed and took his place back at the table.

"So how'd it go?" Bobby asked, grinning.

John shook his head, partially in disappointment, "Shut up, man."


	4. Chapter III: Learning

**Anomaly**

**By CorvidaeCorvusCorax**

**Chapter III: Learning  
**

"So, tell me about the Very Bad Things," Victoria took a deep breath, calming herself, pacing back and forth through the wide hallway, "Is John involved or is it just that weird green guy you drew?"

Lucy sat down with her back against the wall, her notebook in her lap, doodling something, "Look," she paused, flipped back a couple pages and held it up, "This is me," she pointed to a rather well drawn sketch of what appeared to be her, "This is you," She pointed to the figure next to her.

"And that _thing_ behind us?" Victoria pointed to the shadow behind them. It didn't seem like an ominous presence, it was just _there._

"I don't know," Lucy shrugged, "But it's bad, believe me."

"And how do I know you're not lying?" Victoria asked.

"Because you're practically a human lie detector when you concentrate," Lucy insisted, "Besides, I promised myself I wouldn't lie to you anymore. I don't like making people angry."

_Well, it's a little late for that, _Victoria thought, "Okay, how about this, I'll ask you before I do anything if something bad is going to happen, and you have to promise not to lie to me or otherwise prevent me from doing something, regardless of the consequences."

"No deal," Lucy stated, loudly, "You're supposed to protect me from the Very Bad Things. How are you going to protect me if you're _dead_."

"What, are they going to _flirt _me to death?" Victoria motioned in the direction of the Rec Room, "You can't just second guess every action. And sometimes plans don't always go that smoothly."

Lucy didn't know what to say. She was smart, of course, but just couldn't locate the right words, "I think that boy is going to do something when the Very Bad Things happen. It might be good, but I'm not sure."

They hadn't noticed Dr. Grey approaching, but she made her presence known by clearing her throat. Lucy looked up with eyes wide, like she had been caught doing something bad, and slammed her notebook shut. Victoria didn't look nearly as shocked, but sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. She was finally getting somewhere with this, at least that's what she thought.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Jean Grey," The red head introduced herself, "I need you both to follow me."

"Did we do anything wrong?" Lucy asked.

"Uh, no," Dr. Grey shook her head, "I have your rooms and schedules ready. I also need to show you something, and it's very important that you don't tell anyone, except for the teachers."

Victoria sighed. What could possibly go wrong?

* * * *

"These are your class schedules," Dr. Grey handed the papers to Victoria, who passed Lucy's to her, "We wanted to separate you both, but you have at least one class together."

Lucy read through it quickly, "Which one?"

"We can talk about it later," Victoria replied. They were being led through the school, passing through the labyrinthine corridors, left, right, another right, until they came across an elevator. That was where Dr. Grey stopped them.

"Also, about your rooms," She said, then read from a note written quickly on a yellow Post-It, "Lucy, you will be staying with the younger students downstairs, with Rahne Sinclair and Kitty Pryde."

"We're going to be separated from each other outside of class, too?" Lucy whined, disappointed. She wanted to stick close to Victoria, that's what her mother told her to do. And besides, what would be cooler than going back to Winifred Augusta's and telling all the Year Sevens that she got to be _Victoria-Freaking-Ward's _roommate?

"You'll still be able to see each other," Dr. Grey replied in a sympathetic tone. Lucy was still displeased, "She'll be upstairs, with the older students."

"Which ones?" Victoria asked.

Jean looked down at the stick-note, "Rogue and Jubilation Lee."

_Weird names_, Victoria thought, testing out the words. Mildred was going to be angry, seeing as she had been Victoria's roommate since Year Nine. Victoria originally pulled some strings with her mother in order to become roommates with someone who was completely opposite of her, that way she wouldn't have to talk to anyone. Victoria also originally disliked Mildred Clarke due to their differences, but over time they became inseparable. Hopefully it would play out that way with _Rogue _and _Jubilation._

"I can show you to your rooms, but first: I have to show you what you both came here to see," Jean stated. She pushed a button on the elevator and motioned for the girls to step in, following behind them.

What Victoria saw next was like something out of a science fiction movie. The elevator _dinged_ and the doors opened. The walls and floors and ceilings were almost a bluish color, lit very brightly. There were large—what she guessed, she honestly didn't know—doors with X's on them. Jean motioned for them to follow. The girls gave each other nervous glances, but did as they were asked.

They went through an automatic door, and there was a large cube of glass covering a hospital bed. Whoever it was was covered up to their chin in a white sheet and had some kind of wires sticking from their head. Neither of the girls could clearly see the man's face.

"Is _this_ what we came to see?" Lucy asked, a little disappointed. It was possibly just masking her surprise or fear, Victoria couldn't decide, because she, too, was a little more than "creeped out," as Mildred would say.

"This man's name is Toad," Dr. Grey explained, waving them closer to the safety glass. It wasn't to imprison the poor man; it was to protect the girls just in case he woke up. She had never seen a mutant, other than Logan; resist the drugs that kept him unconscious. She had to keep the dosage high, but she had a feeling Toad would eventually adapt and she wouldn't be able to drug him without killing him, "He was supposedly attacked by a mutant gang, then his memories were erased. He has no idea how he got here or why this happened to him."

"Supposedly?" Victoria repeated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, I did some digging, and I'm starting to think that _maybe_ that's not exactly what happened," Dr. Grey shrugged.

"What do you mean, 'digging'?" Lucy air-quoted.

"It's your ability, right?" Victoria asked, "She's a psionic, like us." She didn't need to be a psychic to know that. She had spent time with telepaths before; 'digging' was nothing new to her.

"That's right," Jean nodded, "I'm a telepath. Usually I can tell if a memory has been blocked out, but in this case…The memories are just masked. At first, I thought they were completely gone, but as he's healed, they're becoming clearer."

"How long do you think it'll take to find the real memories?" Victoria asked.

Jean shrugged, "It could take a day, and it might take a month. I'll ask the Professor for help, of course, but I would like to try on my own, first. I'll keep the two of you updated in the event that I uncover anything."

"Great," Victoria smiled. She was trying not to be sarcastic, of course. Though masking it against a telepath would prove to be worthless. Of course, she knew that from experience, too.

"Come on," Jean altered the subject to something a little lighter, "I'll help you guys get settled."

* * * *

A little over a week later, Victoria saw that Lucy had adapted quite well. Lucy sat at one of the Rec Room tables with Victoria, flattening out a letter that had been crumpled with her small hands and placing it in a pile among other messages.

"Mom has sent me three letters," Lucy said, beaming, "I've never gotten any letters before, it's kind of cool. Except, y'know, they're from _mom_."

Victoria didn't want to think of a reply. She just half-heartedly smiled, "You don't have to try so hard to act like an adult."

"But being an adult is _cool_," Lucy insisted, "You get to leave school property, you get to drive a car, and you even get to use your powers outside of school if you wanted to."

Victoria, however, was less than convinced. Sure, she could use her ability whenever she damn well pleased, and her parents _sometimes _let her borrow the car, but that wasn't what bothered her. Her own parents had yet to send letters, neither did her brother, hell, even Mildred had yet to track her down and send her one. Granted, she was a legal adult and her parents respected that, it would've been nice, "Yeah, it's _great_."

"Speaking of adults," Lucy added, "They need my mom's permission to let me go on that field trip."

"To the museum?" Victoria had been so shut-up lately that she completely forgot about it. Sure, one of the teachers must have talked to her about it, but it's not like she was listening, "You really want to go to that?"

"It's a _field trip_," Lucy reiterated.

"So? The year sevens are going on one this March," Victoria replied, shrugging, "And it's a better museum. What's your point, anyway?"

"My mom hasn't exactly been answering the phone, and I'm wondering—and I already asked Professor Xavier about this—that you can give them _your _permission. That way we both can go."

"But that would mean I'd have to _go_," Victoria shook her head. Indeed, her belief about thirteen-year-olds still held true after a week of 'getting to know Lucy.'

"Yeah, but you could sign up as a chaperone," Lucy argued, "A lot of the older students are doing it."

"Like who?" Victoria's brow rose.

Lucy was speechless for a moment, her mouth agape. Finally, she said, "I just thought it would be fun," Victoria recognized that tone, "My first year of going to a real school, I get to go to New York without my mom, and I get to hang out with _you_..." Lucy continued.

_Oh, jeez_, the Guilt Trip. Victoria already knew where this was heading; she used it numerous times on her brother before. The only problem was: Lucy was the daughter of Dr. Barnabas' _best friend_. Lucy had the leverage.

"Fine," Victoria cut Lucy off mid-rant, during which the younger gave her a rather watery stare-down, "We can go." Victoria would never admit to _anyone_, not even Mildred, that she just lost to a thirteen-year-old girl.

"_Thank you, thank you, thank you_!" Lucy squealed and jumped out of her seat (and almost across the table, Victoria was certain), embracing the older girl, "I'm gonna go tell my friends, they'll be _so_ excited! Oh, and Professor Xavier, of course!"

"Wait!" Victoria called after the youngling as she somewhat skipped off to find her friends, then more to herself, quietly, "You left your..." Lucy's messenger bag was sitting in the chair across from her, and the notebook was left on the table. _The notebook_...No, as tempting as it was, Victoria refused to even _think_ about looking. At least, not without Lucy's permission. Gathering Lucy's belongings and her own, Victoria shook her head and started the search for the energetic teen.

* * *

_A/N: Yes, I know this is short. It's kind of just a filler chapter. And my computer caught a virus, so I had to work on it on a bunch of different computers today. But I finished this chapter, and the next chapter is going to be better, I promise!_


	5. Chapter IV: First Warnings

**Anomaly**

**By CorvidaeCorvusCorax**

**Chapter IV: First Warnings **

"Good morning," Jean said cheerily to the man sitting atop the exam table. There were still wires connected to him, and almost his entire left forearm was bandaged from the "attack." Today was a very important day.

"Wot are you so chipper abou'?" Toad asked, trying to shake off some of the haze left behind by the drugs.

Jean smiled, "Do you remember what I told you last week?"

He shook his head, "No, can't say I do. What the 'ell did you put me on?" He motioned to the monitors.

But she didn't answer him fully, "I told you that someone from another school came for information about the people who attacked you. I've been going through your memories, and oddly enough, the only one that comes in clearer than the others are some voices and a cell. Then it jumps straight ahead to you getting beaten to near death. And then you ended up here."

"Speakin' of which, I _am_ a little curious as to how that happened," He replied, rubbing the back of his head with his un-bandaged hand. Xavier's was the last place he had hoped to end up, not after what happened on Liberty Island. And judging by the lack of X-men swarming the room, he could guess that this was a hush-hush kind of deal.

"That makes two of us," Jean nodded, "And now that you are awake, alert, and healthy enough... I'd like to read your mind again—with your permission, of course."

"Lady, if that's all it's going to take to get out of here—so be it_," _His bluntness was a surprise to her, along with his willingness to allow her into his mind. But he wasn't being too honest with himself, though. Deep down he knew that there was no place else for him to go, so why rush out the door? Because it made him a traitor, of course. God, if Sabertooth ever found out, he'd be disemboweled before he even got through the front door.

"One more thing," Jean's voice, though quieter this time, broke him from his thoughts, "The people from the other school...I want you to meet them, maybe later today—"

"_Right_, because they won't run away when they see me."

"_Depending on your behavior_."

"I've said it once and I'll say it again," He shrugged, "If it'll get me the 'ell outta here, just _do_ it."

* * * *

Victoria was going down the stairs to the younger students' dorms to meet up with Lucy. Days were beginning to pass by quickly, and with no contact from her family, she was beginning to worry. Lucy, on the other hand, seemed to be doing fine. Her friends, Rahne Sinclair and Teresa Rourke both contributed to that fact. What was Lucy so worried about? She was doing fine.

_Better _than fine, actually.

Absently, Victoria began wondering about what her own friends back home were doing. Sure, she made new friends, too, but these friends were just people she said "hello" to in class. Other than that, she never really talked to them, no matter how much they may have wanted to—

A sharp scream cut through her thoughts—coming from Lucy's room. Victoria broke into a run, remembering the hundreds (not literally, of course) of ominous warnings about The Very Bad Things and The Very Bad Man.

Victoria reached the room and almost kicked the door through. Lucy was alone, shaking, her green eyes wide.

"Lucy! Lucy, what is it?" Victoria pretty much yelled, gripping the younger girl's shoulders.

"The Very Bad Man," Lucy shuddered, though her eyes stayed wide open.

"What about The Bad Man, Lucy?" Victoria shook her.

"He's right there, behind you, Victoria!" Lucy shouted, "He's going to kill you!" Another sharp scream followed, then she closed her eyes. As quickly as it all happened, it was over. Lucy opened her eyes. She looked more confused than anything, looking up at her, "'Tori? What happened?"

Victoria was too shocked to reply at first. She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts, "I don't know, Luce, I really don't know."

"Was it something bad?" Lucy asked.

Victoria shook her head, "Come on, we're supposed to have a little meeting outside. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" Lucy smiled. It was as if the whole thing never even happened. Lucy went to the closet to grab her sweater, chattering happily about how her day went. Victoria was deaf to this. She had been friends with precogs before, she had even seen one having a vision, but nothing scared her more than this.

Victoria felt a presence. Not an ominous one, but it just felt like someone was watching. Turning to the door, she saw something that made her do a double take, rooting her to the spot in the middle of the floor. There stood a green man in the hallway, Dr. Grey had her back turned to him, as though there was nothing wrong. But Victoria remembered the sketch, the silhouette, and it _made sense_ all of a sudden.

"Ready to go?" Lucy grabbed Victoria by the sleeve of her sweater, making her jump. Victoria continued staring at this strange man, and he did the same thing right back, grinning evilly.

"Uh, yeah," Victoria shook her head, turning to the younger girl, "I just, uh, have to grab something out of my room. Do you mind going with me?"

She refused to look at this man as they passed, but she felt his strange eyes on her. Something Bad was going to happen, and this time, Lucy couldn't even remember.

* * * *

_Meanwhile, at Winifred Augusta's School of Innovation:_

Barnabas' office was eerily quiet, and Gideon sat at his chair, as usual, watching Charlotte Fournier intently. Her eyes were closed, her hands folded in her lap, and a pen and paper sitting in front of her on the desk. She hadn't moved or spoken yet, and it had been almost—Gideon checked his watch for the tenth time—forty five minutes.

Without opening her eyes, the Seer finally spoke, "Something...changed."

"_What?!_" Barnabas raged, slamming his fist on the desk, knocking over a little wooden bird on his desk, "It's _not_ possible!" He stormed out of his office, the door banging behind him.

Charlotte looked over at the phone...She needed to make the call, but would it be too late?

* * * *

_Field Trip Day, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngster's:_

Lucy noticed a drastic change in Victoria, and it wasn't a very good one. She noticed that the elder would often go straight to her room at the end of the day to finish assignments and hid out in the library when no one else was around. Lucy had already invaded Victoria's privacy once—would it be right to ask what was wrong? Her thirteen year old mind was still trying to understand how people worked, and when dealing with fellow Psi's, it was much more complicated.

Victoria was absentmindedly doodling on her notepad with one hand and continuously stirring her coffee simultaneously. Her eyes, however, remained on the table top in front of her. It was quiet, which was nice for a change. The other students would be getting ready for the field trip and soon they'd be off to the museum to see some exhibits. Until then, the silence was welcoming—

"Hey, 'Tori, do you think they have any art there?" Lucy asked, disrupting her thoughts.

Finally and for the first time all morning, Victoria looked up at her, "I don't know," she shrugged.

"Well, what about cave drawings?" Lucy asked.

"I've never been to this museum, Luce, I wouldn't know," Victoria stated flatly, then looked down at the table again.

There was a long pause, "I wanted to ask, 'Tori," Lucy tried to fit the words together. This _had_ to be done, even if there was a chance of destroying their bond. When Victoria didn't look up at her, she cleared her throat. Victoria jumped, dropping the spoon onto the table.

"What, Luce?" Victoria's tone didn't seem too angry, just a little frustrated, that's all.

In a small voice, Lucy took the plunge, "Why are you so sad today?"

"Who said I was sad?" Victoria asked, an eyebrow raised.

"You just seem a little upset," Lucy explained.

"I'm fine, I just didn't get much sleep last night," Victoria insisted.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Lucy inquired.

Victoria shook her head, "No, I just...I still feel...weird, about being here. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's because I've never been here before and I'm still getting used to it, or maybe because I've never really left home before. I dunno, Luce, I just want to go home."

_Victoria Ward was homesick_, interesting. There was another long moment of silence, though this time, Victoria wished that Lucy would just talk.

"Excuse me, ladies," Dr. Grey came over to the table. Victoria looked up at her, "Uh, Miss Ward, I need to talk to you for a minute..." She glanced over at Lucy, who seemed more than interested, "In private, please?"

"Sure," Victoria nodded, "Just stay here, Luce, I'll be back soon. And _don't move_."

"Don't move," Lucy nodded, "Great."

* * * *

"So what's this all about?" Victoria asked, briskly skimming over the pages of the file Dr. Grey handed her.

"I've been trying to ask you about this for a while, but you have a talent for disappearing," The elder responded, smirking, "Professor Xavier and I have a favor to ask of you, and Lucy—but we think she's too young to handle it, so I was wondering if you could stay at the school today and talk to someone for me."

"I can't, I'm sorry," Victoria replied, shaking her head, "I have to stay by Lucy."

"She'll be fine with us. The teachers and the older students will be watching over her," Dr. Grey insisted, "Please, Victoria, we need you to do this for us."

Victoria was beginning to wonder why the world suddenly needed her. If it weren't for Lucy, she would be at home, studying for a chemistry exam, or trying to get people to sign up for the girls' soccer team (because Mildred would make her do so), and she would feel...normal.

"If anything happens to Lucy while I'm not there," Victoria said, an ominous tone in her voice, "Don't call her mother, call _me_. I'll handle it myself."

"I'll give you the details when it's time for us to leave," Dr. Grey replied, brushing the comment away like it was nothing, "Maybe you should go tell Lucy?"

* * * *

"I've got some bad news," Victoria sighed, taking the seat across from Lucy. How to tell her? Lucy had been looking forward to this day since they got here, and Lucy even _guilt tripped _her into going, too.

"What? Did something happen?" Lucy looked up from her notebook, alarmed and wide eyed.

Victoria took a moment to form the sentence properly, trying to figure out how the situation was going to play out, "Well...Something has changed. I have to stay at the school and do something important for Dr. Grey. She will watch over you at the museum, instead of me."

"But, I want you to go with me," Lucy whined, "I thought this would be something cool we could do together!"

"I know, Luce," Victoria nodded, "But I _need_ to do this. Come on, you get to go off _alone_ and you can even hang out with the adults."

"I don't want to go off alone!" Lucy countered, her voice rising.

Victoria wished she could ask her brother how to talk to a younger sibling, after all, Chris was somewhat of an expert after all those years hanging around her. Then, Victoria remembered the talk Christopher had with her when he had to go to WASI, and she wasn't ready for him to leave home, yet...How did that conversation go, again?

"Lucy, this is something that has to be done," Victoria replied, calmly, "I know you can handle yourself, I mean, look at all the great friends you've made here," Victoria motioned around the cafeteria, mostly at faces she vaguely remembered seeing hanging around Lucy, "And I'll be here when you get back. You can tell me about all the really cool stuff I missed because I had to work, okay?"

Lucy took a deep breath, then nodded, "Fine. It won't be as fun without you."

Victoria smirked, recounting the last time she visited a museum. Mildred had gotten her into quite a bit of trouble that day, "Yeah, I know." She shook away the memory of home, "You should probably start getting ready to leave."

* * * *

The students were outside at the front of the school, Lucy was waving to Victoria, sadly, through the bus window. Dr. Grey pulled Victoria back into the mansion, and told her everything she needed to know, all while leading her up to some faraway room in the boys' dorms.

"So is there anything specific I need to know?" Victoria asked.

Jean shook her head, "Everything you need is in that file I gave you this morning, and if you need any of us just give us a call, here are the numbers." She handed Victoria a sticky-note with a few phone numbers on it, "If he shows any signs of aggressive behavior, just leave the room and call us. I can cut the trip short if I need to."

_Agressive?_ Victoria was beginning to wonder what this was really all about.

"And here he is," Jean stopped at the door and looked to Victoria, "I've done a lot of tests on him and he appears to be much different than when he worked for the Brotherhood. You can feel free to ask him all about it, but I'm not sure if he's willing to talk about it yet."

She opened the door and walked in, motioning for Victoria to wait outside. The television was on, that much she could hear, along with Dr. Grey, introducing Victoria as though she were a stage magician rather than a (somewhat) ordinary high-school student, "Toad, I'd like you to meet someone. She's one of the girls I've been telling you about. Her name is Victoria Ward and she'll just be asking you some questions and just hang around you for today. I'll be gone, but she can contact me if you need anything."

"Great, where is she?" Another voice, a man's, which sounded like he was from England, asked. Dr. Grey motioned for her to come in, "Nice to _finally_ meet you."

Victoria froze in place when she saw who he was...It was _him_, The Very Bad Man, sitting right in front of her, watching the news like any average person, _smiling at her_.

"Well, good luck, and remember what I told you," Dr. Grey waved goodbye and left Victoria all alone with him. Victoria wanted to run, but felt like her legs were bolted to the spot.

"Look who it is," Recognition registered on his face, "And you've been avoiding me. Today's gonna be a good day, then."

* * *

_A/N: I will be posting any updates on the story (meaning news, how far the chapters are coming along, and anything else Anomaly__ related) on my profile page. Feel free to also check out my website, though it's very barren and kind of lonely looking._**  
**


	6. Chapter V: Fate Intervenes

_Author's Notes: Yes, this is a long winded chapter, but it's setting up the story for what is about to happen. Sorry it took so long to post, I was busy with finals this week and I'm getting bumped to advanced classes, meaning more work for me, I guess. Thank you to my three reviewers, they are the ones helping me actually finish this story. I would like to dedicate this chapter to 'roolsilver' (I wish you put your pen name, that way I could thank you personally) who demands 'moar.'_

**

* * *

Anomaly**

**By CorvidaeCorvusCorax**

**Chapter V: Fate Intervenes**

"So you're just gonna act like I'm not here?" After almost an hour of silence, Toad finally spoke up. Victoria had taken a seat on the far end of the small couch, her eyes focused intently on the television screen in front of them. When she didn't respond, he chuckled a little.

"You aren't gonna talk, either?" He asked, looking over at her. She didn't dare move. Figures. Why on earth would they send someone to talk to him that was afraid of him? So he decided to play some games with her. Yes, indeed, today was going to be the best day ever.

* * * *

Lucy tried to stick close to her group, which was headed by none other than Dr. Grey. Oddly, every time Lucy would try to ask her what Victoria was doing, Dr. Grey would act as if she didn't know.

_Yeah, right_, Lucy rolled her eyes. They were all hiding something from her, and she was desperate to find out what.

Somehow, her thoughts managed to distract her from focusing on the people around her...and she bumped right into someone. She looked up at him, curiously. He was kind of old, with a beard and a big beer belly. He also smelled vaguely of pretzels. He chuckled when he saw how small she was, and Lucy knew that must have been why he laughed.

"Hey, look out, kid," He snorted, as though she were just a silly child.

"I'm not a..." The larger man just walked around her, but there was something familiar about that man. It couldn't be possible. She hadn't been to any other school, rarely was allowed to play with the neighborhood children...Who was he? Maybe it was just Déjà vu—the precog's curse.

"Lucy," Dr. Grey put a steady hand on her shoulder, "Try to stay with the group, please."

Maybe she was just having backlash from the recent visions, but Lucy wasn't so sure. She had no choice but to shrug it off and let it go—for now.

* * * *

_Ring, ring, ring. Ring, ring, ring._

Charlotte tried for the last few hours to get in contact with _someone_ at Xavier's, but no one was picking up. She was trying to get through to Victoria. Finally, after the third set of rings, Charlotte slammed the phone back down. She needed to tell someone...anyone, and soon.

* * * *

"_And it appears here that this is only the beginning of what they're calling _'The Mutant Crisis,'" The news reporter stated, "_I also have with me here today, David Daniel, the author of _'Blue Lobster: How Mutation Occurs,'_ and _'Spontaneous Mutations and How They Affect Our Society.' _So, Dave, what do you think of this so-called _'mutant crisis?'"

"Can you believe them?" Toad hissed, more to the TV screen than to Victoria.

"Don't take it too personal," Victoria replied, not looking up from her notebook, "People use certain words, like on news stations and in political debates, just to get peoples' attention. I'm willing to bet money on that Daniel guy being a mutant."

"How are you so sure?" Toad squinted at her, then something clicked in his head, "Oh, I get it. You're gonna be an X-man, aren't you?"

"Excuse me?" Victoria finally looked over at him, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on," Toad insisted, "So what's your codename gonna be, huh?" He looked thoughtful for a moment, "Oh, I know! How about 'Ginger Girl?'" Victoria shot him a dirty look, but said nothing, "No? Well, what about 'Silent Red?'" When she grabbed her belongings and moved away from the couch, he stifled a laugh. Girls were always easier to mess with.

* * * *

Jean Grey had lost sight of Lucy for a moment, and found her sitting on a bench in front of the wax cavemen, head bent forward, like she was focusing on something, "Hey, Lucy, come on, you have to stick with the group." The group in question had gone past the caveman exhibit and was heading into the next one. Peeking over the student's shoulder, she saw that Lucy was indeed focusing on _something_, some kind of sketch.

"What are you drawing?" Jean asked politely, knowing very well that the young girl could see the future.

Lucy shrugged and looked up at her, "I'm not really sure." Maybe it wasn't a vision after all, "I mean, it moved around a lot so it was hard to see." Then again, maybe it _was_. Lucy handed Jean the drawing and looked hopeful.

Jean couldn't really decipher it either, just an abstract shape on a piece of paper, "I don't know, Lucy." What did it mean?

* * * *

Having been offended for the last time, Victoria situated herself as far away from Toad as possible, still trying to watch his actions like a woman on safari, but refused to interact with him for any reason. She sat at what she assumed was a desk trying to get all her thoughts out on paper before the other students got back. She looked up, expecting to see the back of his head from where he sat on the couch, however, he was gone. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Over here," He stated, but his voice seemed really close. She turned back to the desk and saw him standing there, that stupid smirk plastered to his face. She gasped a little, which made the smile grow wider.

"Did you just come over here to scare me?" Victoria asked, blushing a little.

"Actually, _no_," Toad replied.

Victoria's expression contorted into that of anger, "Then what do you want?"

"You're supposed to be here to ask me a bunch of questions about what happened to me, and I guess I should apologize for being rude to you," Toad shrugged, "I mean, after all, you're not a student here, are you? Or that other one, what's her name—_Lacey_?"

"_Lucy_," Victoria corrected him, crossing her arms over her chest, still unconvinced.

"Yeah, Lucy," He nodded, then held out his hand, "Truce?"

Victoria let out a breath, which almost made him forget the whole damn thing, but she grabbed his hand and shook it, "Yeah, truce, I guess."

Maybe he was wrong, was she even afraid of him in the first place? Didn't seem that way now. He released her hand and went back to the couch, trying to act as though the whole situation wasn't still bugging him.

* * * *

"John, knock it off," Lucy overheard the older students, Bobby, say. She had taken a table with Kitty Pryde and Jubilee, both of whom were in Victoria's classes. If 'Tori wasn't going to make friends with these people, Lucy made sure that _she_ would instead. She looked over to the older student's table, the trio (which she had taken to calling the nearly inseparable Bobby, Rogue, and John) were being hassled by two boys around their age.

"Should we help them?" Lucy asked, looking to Kitty and Jubilee.

"I think they can handle it," Jubilee shrugged.

"My brother just asked for a light," One of the boys raised his voice again.

Lucy pushed back her chair to stand, hoping maybe she _could_ help, regardless of what the others said. They were supposed to be the heroes, right?

One of the boys snatched away John's lighter. Lucy couldn't see much of what happened next, but then the mean boy was on fire. Jubilee and Kitty both jumped, along with many museum patrons. Bobby stepped up and a blast of ice put out the fire, though the damage was already done.

"Bobby, what did you do?" Rogue asked, looking around.

Lucy didn't understand what Rogue was saying until she realized that everyone had been frozen, like someone pushed the "pause" button on a remote.

"I didn't do anything," Bobby insisted.

"No," A stern voice, belonging to none other than Professor Xavier, stated, "_I_ did." He wheeled into the cafeteria. Lucy looked around and spotted Dr. Grey, who caught her eye and frowned, showing Lucy her dislike of the situation that had occurred. _No powers in public, gotcha, _Lucy nodded.

"The next time you feel like showing off..._don't._" And that was that, Xavier had spoken.

"_Reports of an attack on the White House are flooding in..._" A news anchor said on the television screens above the growing crowd of Xavier's students.

Lucy felt a pang of guilt...That's what the drawing had been, why didn't she warn anyone before it was too late?

* * * *

Charlotte Fournier's office was much more claustrophobic than Barnabas' and she had taken some time off this afternoon for some privacy. The television was on, not that Charlotte needed to watch it, but it did fill the eerie silence rather well.

"_An attack on the White House today...Witness reports state it was the work of one or more mutants, possibly a terrorist organization_," Charlotte shook her head, did she hear that correctly? She grabbed the remote off a stack of papers and turned the volume up, "_Authorities are still investigating the attempted assassination of the president, though no information has been given at this time..."_

No, it was already too late...But she was _wrong_. Grabbing a stack of letters off her desk, she tried to formulate a new plan, but nothing came. Too late to turn back, now everything would fall into place. Charlotte just hoped Walter Ward wouldn't mind her using his daughter like this. Not that he would know.

"Charlotte!" Barnabas hissed over the intercom, "Please report to my office, there are some things we need to discuss."

The letters were dropped into the fireplace and burned quickly. Victoria would never know, either.

* * * *

"And when I was fourteen, I started moving things with my mind," Victoria explained, "I was so freaked out and I kept it a secret because I didn't know anyone else who could do that. Turns out my family knew the whole time..."

"Why would they lie to you?" Toad asked, smirking.

"They wanted me to have a normal childhood before sending me off to Winifred Augusta's," Victoria shrugged, "I mean, I made some good friends and my brother always helped me with my homework so I could go outside and play before dinner. I guess they just wanted me to have the best of both worlds." She looked down at her lap, where her notebook lay, open. She hadn't touched her homework since the conversation started, which was originally over which teacher she thought was the most powerful, "So what about you?"

Toad should have seen it coming. Not that he had much experience with talking to people, it was just natural instinct. He didn't want to talk about it, he didn't want to talk about it... "I never knew my parents." The words were already out before he could stop them.

Her cheery facade was dropped immediately, "I'm sorry." She didn't know, would he be mad at her for asking? After she talked about all the fun she had with her family, she felt kind of guilty. Well, he was a terrorist, right? Who was she to expect he had a perfect childhood?

"S'alright," He shrugged, "Sometimes I think it's better this way."

"Sometimes you don't?" She offered.

"I was picked up by the Brotherhood when I was a kid, was raised by them, trained by them," He explained, "They were the closest thing to a family I had. If it weren't for them, I would've been dead a very long time ago."

To release the tension on the conversation, Victoria turned on the television as a slight distraction in case something were about to go wrong.

"_And we now go live to the streets for a look at what the citizens think about the mutant attack and attempted assassination of the president,"_ A woman smiled as though what she said was nothing more than a mere chat over coffee and scones, but the words Victoria heard were much worse, and apparently, Toad heard them too. Both mutants snapped their attention into the direction of the small screen.

"_Of course mutants did it,"_ One person, a rather angry looking man with a Yankee's hat on, yelled, his arms flailing wildly like a fish on a pier, "_We were told that this would happen and nobody did anythin' to stop it."_

"_Only a mutant with a death wish would try something like that_," A much younger woman said, "_Why didn't we register mutants when we could have, at least we could find the jerk who did it."_

The next scene was a group of protesters, shouting some obscenities about mutants. Victoria was awestruck. She had never seen this much hatred before, so much anger and violence toward her kind. No, the mutant that did it was _not_ like her or her kind. She glanced over at Toad, hoping he'd have something to say, or maybe he could help her understand how she felt.

There was no expression on his face that she could see, it was a blank slate, his yellow eyes taking in everything, but there was no show of that infamous anger the files told her. Why wasn't he saying anything? He snatched the remote from her hand, making her flinch. She had forgotten why she turned the damn thing on in the first place. He shut the TV off and tossed the remote across the room, trying to aim for the screen, she guessed, but it missed and landed near the closet.

"See that?" He asked her, but his eyes remained glued to the now darkened television set.

Victoria nodded, unsure of what to say.

"Then _why_," His voice rose in volume, "are you so bloody interested in helping _them_?! I don't see what's wrong with mutants seeing themselves as the top of the food chain! We are the higher beings now, we should be given everything this world has to offer and _more_! I mean, you don't see mice rescuing cats from trees, why should Xavier tell us to help the weaker species?"

Victoria was thoughtful for a moment. The words took some time to register, and finally, she spoke, "Well, if the cats are going to be so pompous about it, maybe the mice _shouldn't_ help."

* * * *

Victoria now stood on the balcony above the foyer, watching the students flood in. They must've heard the news, too, they weren't even supposed to be back for another hour or two. Not that it mattered, Victoria needed time away from Toad and his twisted visions of a perfect society.

He was right, in a way. The Brotherhood _had_ trained him, from a very young age, that mutants and humans could _not_ coexist. She couldn't see the problem in it herself, though she had a much different life than he did. Why Dr. Grey insisted on Victoria's help was beyond her, but it was over now. Victoria decided that she would refuse the next person who asked for help in this school, it wasn't worth the headaches.

"_'Tori_!" She heard the familiar voice of Lucy, and saw the girl running up the stairs to her. God, was she a sight for sore eyes.

"Hey, Luce," Victoria tried to act as though nothing was wrong, however, "How was it?"

Lucy's expression changed, "It was fun, I guess. John lit some guy on fire, then Bobby saved the guy by freezing him, then Professor Xavier made everyone in the museum freeze with his mind...We had to leave because of the..."

"Yeah, Lucy, I saw it," Victoria cut off Lucy before the younger girl ran out of air and fainted, "Tell me, did you see anything before it happened?"

"I'm not sure," Lucy reached inside her bag, "But I drew this." She handed the sketch to Victoria, who looked over it thoroughly. Victoria could've sworn this picture was some sort of Rorschach test and it was all a joke, but Lucy's expression was serious, "It was moving around too much and I couldn't see all of it. I think I was following the person who attacked the president."

"What do you mean...'following?'" Victoria's brow raised, "You mean you were following the person in the vision?"

"Yeah, but I didn't get a good look at his face," Lucy grabbed the picture back, "I have to show it to Professor Xavier, maybe it can help."

Lucy ran off in the direction of his office, but for insurance, Victoria called after her, "Okay, I'll see you at dinner, Luce!" Why didn't anyone ever ask her about _her_ day?

* * * *

"Victoria, can I talk to you for a minute?" Dr. Grey's voice was soft, meaning that it was definitely an important conversation. Victoria looked across the table at Lucy, who gave her an annoyed look, she shrugged.

"Uh, yeah, what is it?" Victoria asked, following Dr. Grey out into the hallway outside of the cafeteria area.

Dr. Grey looked uncertain for a moment, like she was deciding on whether or not to ask, "So, how did everything go with Toad?"

Victoria shrugged, "Fine, I guess. I wrote some notes down about his behavior, but he wasn't that talkative...at least until we watched the news."

"He didn't try anything?"

"No," Victoria shook her head, "I don't think he would want to. I just talked to him and it was like I wasn't an enemy anymore." Yes, she had been angry at his outbursts and the fact that he offended her, but there was something different about him after their truce, "Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, no," Jean replied, "Storm and I are going to Boston tonight and wanted to be sure that you and Lucy would be okay here, seeing as Xavier has some business to take care of and the only teacher here will be Logan."

"Logan?"

"You haven't met him yet," Jean smirked, "I highly suggest you do, though. I've got to go, but I want to hear more about Toad when I get back tomorrow, okay?"

Victoria nodded, and Dr. Grey left her standing alone in the hallway. All the teachers would be gone tonight? She would have to be on guard.

* * * *

That evening, Charlotte Fournier was back in her office. She tried calling Xavier, no answer. Tried calling some woman named Dr. Grey, no answer. Why was no one answering? Had something already happened?

She spoke out loud, just to try and make the words seem a lot less worse than they really were, and trying to make sure this wasn't some kind of wicked dream, "Lucy is doomed."

Not a dream, and the reality of it was finally hitting her, _Lucy, my only daughter, is doomed._


	7. Chapter VI: Breaking and Entering

**Anomaly**

**By CorvidaeCorvusCorax**

**Chapter VI: Breaking and Entering**

Victoria opened her eyes and stared at the clock. The neon green numbers told her it was only eleven thirty, and this was the seventh attempt at sleep the entire evening. Something was still bugging her. Maybe it was the attack on the White House and the fact that a mutant _was_ behind the whole thing. Maybe it was the chat with Toad about mutant superiority, or maybe even the fact that she knew that Dr. Grey was miles away and was unable to talk to her.

Finally deciding to do something about this sleep issue, she rose from her bed as quietly as possible, hoping not to wake her roommates, and made a break for the hallway. She knew exactly what it was: The Ward Curse, the never ending quest for knowledge, which often attacked her at the beginning of the semester (she vaguely remembered reading through two advanced physics books that weren't even assigned, in one night).

However, this time, she knew exactly how to satisfy this hunger...and it was sleeping in the far end of the boys' dorms.

* * * *

_Why didn't I tell Dr. Grey?_ Lucy wondered, staring at the ceiling, _Why didn't I try harder to see? _A million questions fluttered through her mind, but she only had the answer to one: _What should I do now, seeing as the Bad Things haven't happened yet?_ The solution: Try to get everything on paper and show Victoria in the morning. Prepare, try to get ahead of the enemy. That's what her mother taught her. Being a precog was useful, if she could just see the right things.

She remembered when she first found out about her powers. She discovered, through trial and error, that she _did_ have some sort of on/off switch, she just needed to be moving.

Silently, she opened the door to her room, notebook and pen in hand, desperate to see anything else. Hopefully that Logan guy Kitty told her about was asleep and wouldn't disturb her thoughts.

* * * *

Victoria had knocked twice before he opened the door. There he was, in only a pair of sweatpants with the X's on them, grumbling about the noise. He saw her, and blinked a couple times. She assumed that he was certain she'd never want to see him again, and she was certain she'd never want to see him again, either.

"Do you realize what time it is?" His accent was thick with sleep and he yawned to get his point across.

"Yes, I do, actually," She surprisingly sounded more awake than she should have.

"Then what do you want?"

"There are still some things I need to ask you," Victoria replied, confidently. He opened his mouth to say something, but she already knew what he was thinking, "No, they didn't put me up to this. I have an information addiction and I just need a little more information before I can sleep tonight."

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?" He was starting to get very annoyed with this girl, ironic, seeing as this was what he was trying to accomplish with her earlier that day.

"Probably would be better if I talked now," Victoria shrugged, holding up her pen and the file.

He mumbled something unintelligible and swung the door open all the way, "Come on in..."

A light was flicked on and she plopped down on the couch. He grabbed the shirt he had been wearing earlier and pulled it on quickly. He took the seat he occupied only twelve hours ago and yawned again, "So what were you saying about information addiction?"

"See, my great great grandfather was Thaddeus Ward, and he was one of the early mutants," Victoria explained.

"Right, you said somethin' 'bout him earlier, right?" Toad nodded.

"Yeah," Victoria nodded, "And he was a scientist. Only problem was that he wanted to know a lot about everything. He would stay up all night studying chemical reactions, then he'd spend all day analyzing physics and algebraic equations."

"Wow," Toad wasn't particularly interested, she noted.

"And ever since then, that one tiny flaw has been passed down through the generations," Victoria shrugged.

"And does little Lainey have a 'curse,' too, because one of you in here is enough," Toad stated.

"_Lucy_," Victoria corrected, "And yes, as a matter of fact, she does."

"Oh?"

"Déjà vu," Victoria said, "Her own ancestor, Dr. Penelope Lafayette was listed in Thaddeus' diaries as having chronic déjà vu as a result of her power."

"How many others have curses?"

"Well, there were four founders: Thaddeus Ward, Penelope Lafayette, Samuel Roderick, and Bertram St. Paul."

"What about their descendants?"

"Well, Dr. Barnabas is very energetic and can hardly sit still," Victoria recalled a time when she was new at WASI that Barnabas damn near propelled himself out of a chair because he was sitting too long, "He's electrokinetic, what Thaddeus called an Elemental, obviously due to their abilities to control elements..."

"I'm tired, not stupid, I know what it means."

"And Thaddeus once said Roderick was 'full of life with no interest in sharing,'" She remembered the phrase quite well, knowing that it applied to Mildred, "And as for Bertram St. Paul...Most of Thaddeus' later diaries were torched when the original building burned down. No one knows who his descendant is because there's nothing much known about him. Thaddeus mentioned him very early on, calling him a 'physical anomaly,' but not much else." She remained silent for a moment, like she was trying to piece everything together.

"That's a pretty rich history, isn't it?" He asked. It's not that she was boring him, it was just that she made it seem like it was more interesting than it really was.

"Right, and in the quest for knowledge, I want to ask you something..." She sighed and placed the file on the floor near her feet, "And feel free to say no," He gave her a strange look, "See, I can do more than just move things with my mind. If I touch certain things, I can see that object's past. And seeing as you want to go to sleep as much as I do, I was wondering if you'd let me use something of yours to see if I can get a memory out of it."

He blinked. This girl was obviously suffering from lack of sleep, because he didn't understand a word she said but she seemed to want to help him. How would touching something make her see what he went through?

"I mean, you were attacked by someone, wouldn't you want to know who it was?" She asked, "And like I said, you _can_ say no...It would just be much harder to find out who did it."

Toad needed a moment. Could she really find out who did it? And if she did, would he be able to leave Xavier's once they got all the information they needed?

* * * *

Lucy tried as hard as she could, but she could only see the images from before flash in front of her eyes. No, nothing had changed, which meant that whatever was going to happen, would happen, there was no way to stop it.

_No, focus more_, Lucy told herself, closing her eyes and stopping to lean against a wood paneled wall. She looked down at her notebook. More scribbles of a shadow man and that green man from before. One had Victoria in it, but it wasn't anything new. If only she could see past what she already knew, she just had to keep trying.

Meanwhile, something behind her lurked in the darkness, seemingly not noticing the girl, as Lucy made her way through the labyrinth of halls.

* * * *

"So have you had a lot of memory black outs recently?" Victoria asked, recording notes in the file while he decided on whether or not he wanted her in his memories.

"Not since everything has healed...sort of," Toad shrugged.

"Do you remember what happened after the last black out?"

"I was here," His answers were short. He was nervous, she realized.

"And before that?"

"My memories were covered up."

"So that's a no," She scribbled something down on the papers, "Do you still have the clothes you were wearing the day you came here?"

He sighed, "Look, I'm only letting you do this so I can get some sleep, okay," He rose to his feet, "But I'll look. They might have been washed."

"Doesn't matter," Victoria replied, "As long as it was where something happened I can see it. I can't explain this power as well as my telekinesis, probably because it's much more powerful, but the point is that if you were wearing it when you were attacked, I might be able to see the attackers better than you could."

He grabbed what he assumed was the hooded sweatshirt he had been wearing and took a seat on the couch, "And this is gonna work?"

"Maybe," Victoria looked at him hopefully. She wanted to get out of here just as badly as he did, too bad he wasn't supposed to know that, otherwise they might have been friends. When she saw the scowl on his face, she cleared her throat, "I want to find out who did this, too. Maybe I can stop something Very Bad from happening, to all of us."

"Fine, here..." He held it out towards her.

As she made a grab for it, something made the two of them jump: A loud, pulsing scream—coming from the girls' dorms.

The duo jumped to their feet, dropping the sweatshirt (and the hopes of escaping the school within the week) behind them, and into the hallways.

Students were awake, alert, and running...but where? Before Toad could even figure out what was going on, Victoria made a run for the crowd, hoping to find Lucy.

* * * *

Lucy recognized that scream—it belonged to her friend and roommate Theresa! Something Very Bad was about to go down, but she needed to get to Victoria, and fast. Heading to where the students were running, she saw a few faces she just barely recognized.

This was not good. She felt like a little kid who got lost in the mall...No, she wasn't a little kid, she was Lucy Fournier—a hero. Shots were fired and she panicked. She just needed a place to hide, Victoria would come looking for her, she _knew_ it. Until then, where would she hide?

* * * *

Victoria managed to find at least one person who could help her, "John!" She called, "_John_, you need to help me!" Finally the boy turned around. She stopped running when she reached him and tried to speak, though she could barely breathe, "John, I've gotta find Lucy, have you seen her?"

"Lucy?" He was honestly confused, but she didn't blame him, "Oh, that little blond girl..." More shots fired, in the distance, but the two still flinched, "Uh, I think I saw her heading for the library--"

Before John even finished the sentence, she was already off, "Hey!" He called after her, "Forget about her, just get out while you can!"

Victoria didn't stop to reply, "Not without Lucy!"

* * * *

Lucy saw the soldiers enter and was able to hide under one of the tables, she just hoped they weren't smart enough to look there. The library had been empty, which made her think that maybe they had followed her there.

Flashes appeared in front of her eyes again, this time it was something different, moving very quickly in her slight panic. Were these the Very Bad Men, and it would be all over as long as she stayed hidden? Something told her _no_, she had to get to Victoria before they got to her, too.

The soldiers were moving away from her and out toward the exit. Now would be the time to move, she decided.

_Squeeeak..._ The chair echoed through the entire room. As if she had just painted a target on herself, the soldiers turned and aimed at her. _Oh, crap_, she knew it was a bad idea but did it anyway...

"Hey!" One man shouted. Lucy ducked for cover.

A girl, Kitty Pryde fell through the ceiling and landed not too far away from Lucy's hiding spot. The soldiers were distracted as Kitty ran through a soldier and out the door.

The men must've forgotten about her, but weren't leaving. Lucy would have to be extra quiet now, like on Christmas Eve when she'd try to sneak downstairs to see Santa Claus when she was a kid. Only, this was much worse than getting caught by her mother, these men were on a mission to kill.

* * * *

Victoria had completely forgotten that Toad was behind her until Kitty Pryde ran through the library doors (literally) and ran by them.

"That was different," Toad commented.

Victoria brushed it off, this wasn't a time for jokes. She needed to get Lucy and get out of the school while she could.

"Come on, she might be in here..." As Victoria reached for the door, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She glared at him, "What are you doing?"

"I should probably go first," He insisted.

"Right, you _are_ the terrorist after all," She mumbled.

He didn't reach for the door, however. He went over to the wall next to it and climbed up onto the paneling, she watched in amazement. She did remember something in the files about the extent of his abilities, but she had never seen anything quite like this before.

Pushing the door open, he peeked in. He turned to her and gave her some kind of signal, then disappeared into the library. She stood in silence for a moment, intently listening for anything.

"What the—!" She heard a man's voice shout. Shots were fired again, and she ducked for cover, blocking her ears. Everything settled down and she rose to her feet.

She heard Toad talking, probably calling to her, but she must have lost her hearing from the gunfire. She peeked into the library and saw Toad, with his back to her, standing over numerous bodies. Well, he did insist on going first.

* * * *

Lucy saw him—the one from her visions, he _had_ to be: The Very Bad Man. She looked in the direction of the exit, and was more than happy to see a familiar face, Victoria had come to rescue her, just like her visions said.

"'Tori!" Lucy shouted and ran out from under the table, passing the green man as quickly as she could. Victoria came in and greeted her with a tight hug, "That's _him_, the Bad Man—Get him!" Lucy hid behind the older student and pushed her toward the man.

But Victoria made no move to hurt him, "Victoria, what's wrong with you?! You're supposed to stop him!"

"Luce—" Victoria sputtered as the younger girl kept pushing her in the direction of Toad, "Lucy, stop it!"

"My visions showed him hurting us," Lucy reiterated, "You have to get him, _now_, while we can."

"What is she going on about?" Toad wasn't too sure about what she was talking about. Visions? This girl was a psychic, one who could see the future?

"I'm sorry, Toad," Victoria replied, then turned to Lucy, "Look, he's _not_ the Bad Man, Luce. He just saved my life _and_ yours. Would a bad person do that?"

Lucy looked thoughtful, "Yeah, but he could be—"

"Could be _what_, Lucy?!" Victoria was annoyed by this. Toad had just prevented her from going into a dangerous situation and losing her life to protect Lucy, and Lucy wasn't even listening to a word she said. Sure, Toad had insulted her and annoyed her, but they eventually had a decent friendship going in a short period of time.

"I'd hate to interrupt," Toad spoke up, finally, "We should probably get out of here before something else happens."

* * * *

Through the scope on his rifle, a soldier saw three people running towards the woods.

"Should I get them, too?" He asked.

A heavy hand was placed on his shoulder, he looked up to see another man, who wore a grin, looking out to where the three mutants disappeared into the forest surrounding the school, "No, we only came for Xavier's students. They'll be taken care of soon enough."


	8. Chapter VII: Smoke and Mirrors

**Anomaly**

**By CorvidaeCorvusCorax**

**Chapter VII: Smoke and Mirrors**

They finally stopped running somewhere deep in the woods, still probably not far enough from those soldiers, but it would have to do. Victoria hoped that they weren't being followed.

"Lucy," Victoria was breathing heavily and clutching her side, "Do you...have any idea what's going to happen?"

"No," Lucy replied, almost moaning from the pain. Her slippers had been soaked through from the mist on the grass and some puddles she had run through, and her short legs had been cut up by branches. Victoria didn't look much better. The older girl was drenched with sweat and mud was caked on her shoes and clothes. At least one of them was wearing shoes, too bad it wasn't Lucy.

"What _exactly_ are you two talking about?" He wasn't out of breath, Victoria noticed, because he was trained to move fast. Perhaps his mutation assisted in that, too.

"Okay, you already know that Lucy and I are _not_ Xavier's students, right?" Victoria asked, he nodded, "Right. We were sent here by_ her _mother," Victoria pointed at Lucy, "Charlotte Fournier, who had a vision about something I'm assuming like _this_ happening, and I was supposed to protect her."

"Wait," Toad stopped her, "_The_ Charlotte Fournier?"

"Yeah, that's my mom," Lucy nodded, "How do you know about her?"

"Yeah, how do you know her mother?" Victoria asked, cocking her head to the side.

"A couple years ago we—meaning the Brotherhood—were supposed to track her down and get some insight on some mission we were supposed to do, something involving a senator," Toad explained, "She pulled out last minute and we had to find another psychic."

"You were going to kill a senator?" Victoria hissed, "Well, no wonder she backed out. She would never use her powers for that purpose."

"Well, she had no problem sending you to your death," Toad countered.

"She's not supposed to die," Lucy cut in, "_I_ am. Well, _was_. I don't know why _you're _here."

"Anyway, I don't understand why all this is still happening," Victoria shook her head, "I mean, I made friends with you and I tried to help you, but events played out the way they were going to anyway. I don't understand..."

"You're not the only one," Toad muttered.

"Lucy, do you even remember how this all ends, or did you not get that far?" Victoria asked.

"No, I must have lost my notebook somewhere back at the school," Lucy replied, then sighed, "So much for staying ahead of the enemy, huh?"

* * * *

Charlotte knew it was late, but after the short conversation she had with Barnabas about the attack on the President, she was worried about him. She had come to his office, hoping he would still be there. He'd been sleeping less, even though there was really nothing he could do about it.

She knocked and the door opened of its own accord, "Gideon?"

The office was empty, but on the desk was a note to Charlotte.

"_Had some business to attend to—Gideon."_

Charlotte knew this was coming all along, she just had to call a few friends. Her daughter was sure to be with Victoria, and they would have no trouble locating them as long as they stayed with Toynbee. He was easy enough to find the first time, he should be ready for round two.

* * * *

"...And as usual, I get dragged along because of my crappy luck," Victoria stated, "Lucy, you never did tell me why you researched me so much, or was it because you saw me in your visions?"

"I've met you before," Lucy explained, "At a Christmas party at the school."

"What?!" Victoria would certainly remember that little bit of information.

"Yeah, but I was like...eight," Lucy replied, "You were off with your friends and I was trying to stay out of everyone's way."

"And that's all there is to it?" Victoria suppressed a nervous laugh. It was getting too quiet, and it made her worry. Were they far enough yet? Where was the main road?

Toad shushed the two. Not because he was tired of listening to them, however, "Quiet, I thought I heard something!"

"What?" Lucy whispered.

Toad shrugged, "I dunno, must've been an animal or something."

_Snap_, a tree branch, the sound came from behind them. The trio turned, expecting to see a deer or maybe even another student.

Lucy let out a sharp scream.

"Lucy what is it?" Victoria shouted.

"He's right there, behind you, Victoria!" Lucy pointed. Toad saw it, too. A cloud of black smoke vaguely shaped like a human being. The smoke grew into some kind of monstrous creature, and Victoria turned, as if in slow motion, eyes widening at the sight, "He's going to kill you!" Followed by a sharp scream as the black creature took aim at Victoria, threatening to swallow her.

Toad made a leap for her and knocked her out of harm's way, "Stay down!" He rose to his feet, leaving the girl on the ground in the mud. The creature clouded around the ground, and reverted to human form. It was a man, with a gut and a beard.

Victoria recognized him, and so did Lucy, "Mr. Martin?" She hadn't seen him in a few years, not after Barnabas fired him.

Mr. Martin growled and soaked up the dark vapor, turning once again into the beast. Toad stood his ground, covering Victoria. Lucy tried to make a run for it, but Mr. Martin wouldn't have that. The smoke encircled her, blocking her way to safety, and eventually devoured her. As if it were satisfied, it made a quick escape further into the woods.

"Come on, we gotta save her!" Victoria jumped to her feet and started chasing after it, Toad following closely behind.

But the smoke monster was too fast, and eventually Victoria was once again out of breath. Toad stopped a couple steps behind her.

"Shit," Victoria cursed. Though, the nightmare wasn't over just yet.

Toad felt something hit him in the neck, and he was unable to move. Victoria turned and saw that her savior had been hit with some kind of tranquilizer. She felt a sharp pain in her chest and looked down. No, the nightmare had only just begun.

She saw more shadow people standing above her. One of them laughed, "And to think that old bat really trusted you to save her daughter."

* * *

_A/N: This is another sort of filler chapter, just setting up for the events that are to come. Believe me I finished this chapter on the same day as chapter six, so I was expecting this to match up to the others. Interesting trivia, this is the shortest chapter in the entire story._


	9. Chapter VIII: Bloodlines

_Author's Note: Thank you to 'jes' for the lovely review! Alright, this is almost the last chapter, and it's kind of long, but bear with me! And to answer your question, jes, I don't mind only four reviews. I like writing for the fun of it, but yeah, I guess nice reviews are really good, too. Also, a quick thanks to everyone that has read this far (thank you for putting up with my nonsense, I mean)._**

* * *

**

**Anomaly**

**By CorvidaeCorvusCorax**

**Chapter VIII: Bloodlines**

_What happened...?_ Victoria was still in some kind of daze, but she was able to open her eyes, which was good. She found herself looking at some kind of bright light, which burned and caused her to snap her eyes shut again. _Try to remember,_ she told herself. She remembered the woods, running, the smoke monster... Her eyes opened wide again, _Lucy!_

"Ah, look who is finally awake," She knew that voice. A face appeared in her line of sight, "So nice to see you again, Ward."

"Barnabas," She rasped. She must've been drugged by someone, which would explain the lack of movement.

"It's amazing, isn't it," Barnabas laughed, "What a little bit of tranquilizers can do to people. Your friend was much more energetic and we had to give him an extra dose, but that's typical with Physical types."

"Where's Lucy?" She asked.

She felt hands on her head, directing her. There Lucy was, in much the same predicament as Victoria, only unconscious with some kind of tubes in her nose. Barnabas moved her head again, so she could look at him.

"I guess it really_ is_ mind over matter," Barnabas continued, "I should have known that an adult psi-molecular would have a much stronger will."

"What?" Victoria was confused. Why Barnabas? What the hell was going on?

"We go by so many different names, nowadays," Barnabas explained, "Anomalies, mutants, monsters, heroes...villains..." His voice trailed off, "I seem to have lost my train of thought, sorry. I assume it's just nerves. I've never had the chance to test this experiment before tonight."

Her brows furrowed. _Experiment? Heroes and villains? What the hell is going on?_

"Don't act like you didn't see this coming Ward," Barnabas growled, "I know that Charlotte Fournier told you everything! You know why I brought you here, don't you? Well, here, let me show you..."

He placed a hand over her face, she felt her vision slide away, replacing it with something else entirely, something she should have suspected from the beginning...

* * * *

_Winifred Augusta's School of Innovation, Two Months Ago_

"What did you find?" Barnabas asked the woman sitting across from him at his desk.

"There's another one," Charlotte replied, her eyes closed, "The one we couldn't find."

"And…?" Barnabas expected answers, not more questions.

"He's in New York City, I believe," Charlotte continued, ignoring him, "I don't know why I didn't see this before."

"Is he a descendant, is he one of us?"

"I believe so," Charlotte nodded, then opened her eyes, "I'll need a DNA sample to be sure, then I may be able to have my men track down his parents, next."

"Do you have a name?" Barnabas asked.

Charlotte looked thoughtful, taking her time, as though she was wondering whether or not to trust him, "Toynbee."

"And your daughter, how is she involved?" He wondered out loud.

"My daughter is going to save him," Charlotte smirked, "With a little help."

"And Ward?" Barnabas inquired, "Will she help, too?"

"I'm not too sure," Charlotte squirmed in her seat a little, "I only know that the descendants will die if they don't work together."

Barnabas leaned back, "Then all the pieces will fall into place. Find this Toynbee character and find out everything you can."

* * * *

The vision disappeared, changing back to Barnabas' face, "I don't understand," She whispered, "Why us?"

"Originally, I was going to have _my_ generation involved," Barnabas explained, "That's why I wanted Toynbee's DNA sample. Charlotte's men were to track down his parents to finally put an end to the St. Paul mystery. Though, when she started questioning me,

I had to make some slight alterations, and I realized that your father would have never been able to go through with it.

"Of course," He continued, "When Charlotte told me of her plan to send you to Xavier's to save her daughter, I used some connections of my own to alter Toynbee's memories. It was simple really, just some minor adjustments here and there, wipe out the ones of our facility, and send him in Xavier's direction. I was told that Toynbee had a recent battle with Xavier's team, which made it all the more simple."

"Then, the Very Bad Things..." Victoria pieced it all together. _That_ was why there was no change in events, Barnabas made sure that Things would happen, and lead them right into his trap.

"That's right," Barnabas smirked, "You see, I've made quite a few friends in this lifetime. Some were easier to fool than others."

"But Xavier is your _friend_," She hissed.

"Friends _trust_ each other, Ward, something _he_ never gave me," Barnabas spat, "Once he discovered my... obsession with genetic manipulation, he distanced himself. So what if a few _humans_ died? It was going towards our Cause, Ward. After one tiny, little experiment gone wrong and all my 'friends' pulled their funding. So I made new friends.

"Colonel William Stryker was one such friend," Barnabas explained, "I gave him information, he gave me all the funding I would ever need. Of course, Mr. Martin played a large part in this, as you have already seen. I sent him to the school to watch over you. And when he found out about the school itself, we just _had_ to tell Stryker everything. He has an interest in genetics as well, you see. As long as the three of you weren't harmed, he could take all from Xavier that he wanted."

Victoria needed to escape somehow..._Move, idiot, do something._ No, the drugs had worn off significantly, but hardly enough to do anything. _Just keep him talking_, she decided.

"And how do you know that Xavier isn't already on his way?" Victoria asked.

"Believe me, that has been taken care of," Barnabas replied, "Along with his team, and of course, Charlotte Fournier. Anyone who can help you and your friends aren't going to get here in time to stop me."

"You haven't told me why you chose _us_, Barnabas," Victoria stated, "Why did you really pick us? Some kind of petty revenge plot?"

"Of course, not, Ward," Barnabas spoke as though she were a young child who asked a question about the Tooth Fairy, "It's all about _genetics_. The four of us have one little thing in common. Aside from being mutant gene carriers, we are also from a long line of pure bloodlines, no humans to mess it all up. We represent the four types, as explained by Thaddeus, your great-great-grandfather: Psionic, molecular, elemental, and physical--"

"No one knew what St. Paul's power was," Victoria interrupted him, "The journals were burned along with the original building."

"Yes, but I have been following Thaddeus' work for a very, _very_ long time. He spoke of four types, some time after founding the Organization for Scientific Exploration. Then, with thorough research, I found a passage in the archives, he explained something about the possibility of physical mutation in the vaguest sense, and discovered that St. Paul had a dirty little secret: he had _scales_. Thaddeus called him a 'reptilian sapien,' in one medical record, which had been hidden in the bricks of our school. A secret hidden for centuries," Barnabas looked off in the distance, as if recalling the memory.

"And how do you know that Toad is the one you're looking for?" Victoria asked.

"We found a match," Barnabas shrugged, "William Toynbee and Cecilia Leroy. It was simple, really."

_I forgot how much he likes the sound of his own voice,_ Victoria mused.

"And we're the four types you need," She continued, "How are we supposed to help _you_ with this ridiculous plan?"

"By extracting the mutant gene from each of you," Barnabas replied, "Just think of a world with this kind of power. Of course, _I_ have taken the liberty of being the first official test subject of this experiment. I have also decided to give you a decision, knowing well that your little fan girl and mutant terrorist friend will follow you, if you would willingly join me."

Clearly the man had gone insane, Victoria realized. This man had planned for years to do this to her and Lucy: kidnap her, drug her, extract her DNA, and _then _ask if she was willing?

He held up a device so she could see it, "With people like us, _anomalies_, I've discovered that I can harness any other mutant's abilities just by injection." It was some kind of bracelet like thing with hypodermic needles attached to it. Each was filled with what she assumed was blood, but she couldn't be sure, "It could be like that for you, too, Ward. Think: It might even make your father _proud."_

That was the last straw. Focusing hard on her surroundings, she tried to feel something heavy enough. Barnabas darted out of her vision again, shouting expletives. Now, she would make her escape. Her limbs felt heavy, but it was easy to slide of the exam table. She could see where she was now—some kind of decrepit laboratory. She shuddered, thinking of how many other mutants ended up like Lucy, Toad, and herself. _No time for this, _her mind screamed, _Run, think of any kind of plan!_

Barnabas roared and jumped to his feet, "Like father, like daughter. Figures _you_ would play hero." His hands sparked with electricity. She ducked for cover behind the exam table.

"You'll find that heroes don't always win, Ward!" He laughed maniacally. She peeked over the table and saw him—he had an evil grin on his face and a needle in his hand. He injected himself and swayed a little, "Let's see what little Lucy is capable of!"

Victoria hadn't been prepared for this, but she was going to do whatever it took to stay alive. Using telekinesis once again, she "felt" around the room. More lab equipment, mostly jars filled with God knows what, were used as projectiles.

Barnabas was able to block with his electrokinesis, and thanks to precognition, he was able to see everything she threw at him. He laughed once again, "You can't win this, Ward! Just join me now while you still can!" An expletive escaped him again and he hunched over, grabbing his head for just a moment.

_Get Toad_,She told herself, _he's a former mutant terrorist, he'll know what to do_.

"Please wake up," She shouted at him, "Come on! Dammit, Toad!" She shook him a couple times before he opened his eyes. She tried to pull

the tubes and wires out to no avail. Barnabas growled and chucked some of the lab equipment in her direction, still in pain. She screamed and ducked.

"_Toad_, wake the hell _up_!" She shook him vigorously, desperate. His eyes opened, finally. They were glazed over, but at least he responded, "You have to help me…" He groaned in response.

Another projectile headed her way; she blocked it this time, thanks to her ability. She wasn't going to be able to do this alone, but Toad was of no help at the moment, and she needed to formulate another plan—quick.

She ran as far away as she could, dodging everything Barnabas shot at her, calling after her in a malevolent tone, "Let's see just what _your_ powers are capable of, Ward!" There was no escape if he took her powers, too.

Barnabas quickly shot himself up with what she assumed was her DNA. He howled in pain when it was over and looked around the lab, "Yes," He hissed, his nose beginning to bleed, "This will work quite nicely." He tested it out at first, as though he were trying to figure out the secret of telekinesis, lifting a heavy desk. It was only a couple inches off the ground, but it would do for now.

She had never tried telekinesis on heavy objects before, but now was the moment of truth. The desk was coming her way—fast. Concentrating, she tried to imagine a shield in front of her, aiming for the desk, but it didn't want to work. She ultimately gave up, jumping out of the way.

"What's wrong, Ward?" Barnabas laughed, "I can use _your_ powers better than you ever could. If only you agreed, you could be just as good as me."

He was right, she realized. Not to mention she was injured and exhausted. _No_, she told herself, she was stronger than this. She just had to weaken _him_ first. In her train of thought, she was distracted. He charged up one hand and sent bolts across the room. She cried out in pain, feeling the electricity crawl over her skin. It wasn't enough to kill, she knew as she dropped to her knees, but that wasn't what Barnabas had in mind. Not yet, anyway.

"So much for playing hero," Barnabas stated, holding a hand up. She felt herself being dragged, as though by an invisible thread, as Barnabas moved closer, "Come on, Ward, you have to try a little harder than that."

She lifted a hand, as well, and tried _anything_. A couple of the needles looked as if they were just playfully slapped to the side, but not much else. She was lifted by an unseen force, off the ground. Invisible hands were placed around her throat. She knew what was going to happen next. He would kill her and get away with everything.

Black dots clouded her vision and the air was being crushed out of her, she tried to grab at anything, hoping to survive, but he just laughed at her efforts. "You can't win, Ward."

Something darted in front of her eyes, falling from the ceiling above. Barnabas was distracted by this, too. _Bam_! A quick hit to the head and he released Victoria. She fell to the floor with a dull _thud_, trying to catch her breath.

"Are you okay?" It was Toad. He knelt down next to her, "Victoria?"

She nodded.

"Just tell me what I need to do," He stated.

"Get Lucy to safety," Victoria breathed, "I have a plan."

"I'm not leaving—"

A computer was tossed their way, "_Go_!" She jumped to her feet, ready for a fight this time. _Mind over matter_, Victoria reminded herself.

"Still not giving up, eh?" Barnabas giggled.

He was ready for a fight, too. Lab equipment was flying her way, along with bolts of electricity. She shielded herself well, this time. She even managed to send a computer back at him. She searched for more weapons, and finally, her eyes fell on the needles she had tossed aside. If she could just get to them, she might have a chance at beating Barnabas.

Just keep blocking, she told herself, and then get the syringes. Good, she had a plan—Barnabas saw that she was distracted and sent sparks toward her again. This time, she was ready for the pain, however.

"I know your every move, Ward," Barnabas called to her, "I'm stronger than you, faster than you, and can use your knowledge against you." More sparks of electricity—these ones she was _not_ ready for, "Just give up—"

Something happened next that she couldn't quite understand. Her vision blurred and a ringing sound stung her mind. She dropped to the ground, cradling her head. What was happening? Was it Barnabas? She took the time to move forward, trying to pull through the searing pain, but to no avail. Holding a hand out in front of her, the needles weakly crawled in her direction. Where was Barnabas? She tried to see, and found that Barnabas had also dropped to the floor, growling and moaning in pain.

This was the end, she thought, though at least she made it this far. Were Toad and Lucy lucky enough to escape the attack?

Just as suddenly as it happened, it ended. Barnabas, eyes glazed over, looked at her, "That was quite a trick, Ward," What? He thought _she_ did it, "Wonder what else your powers are capable of."

He towered over her, "Any last words, Victoria?"

She giggled, mostly out of sheer nervousness, "Barnabas…Heads up!"

_Concentrate…_The needles flew toward her outstretched hand. Yes, she was not only going to live, but she would indeed be the hero. Barnabas reached out, as well…and grabbed the syringes in mid-flight.

_No!_ Her mind screamed, _I'm not losing, not yet_!

A burst of energy flew through her and the needles were ripped from his grasp. He was shocked for a moment. She rose to her feet, computers and equipment rising with her, "What was that you said about 'last words?'"

"No, it's impossible, you can't be strong enough," Barnabas realized how quickly the tables had turned.

"Of course it is," Victoria smirked, "I'm a hero."

A barrage of equipment was sent his way, knocking him off balance and breaking his skin. He bled, but he wasn't ready to lose yet.

"Oh, and Barnabas," She continued, "Let's see what these other samples can do…" In a swift movement, the needles plunged into his chest.

"_No_!" He screamed. He looked at his hand, veins pulsing across his face and arms, he was slowly losing control. Sparks showered from his hands, and his nose was draining a lot of blood. His skin began to glow, from which power, she couldn't guess, and there was one last cry of defeat, "Impossible!"

She couldn't recall what happened next. She was saved by someone, covering her from the blast. Ashes showered over her.

Barnabas was gone. It was all over.

There was a voice, Charlotte Fournier's, "You _are_ a hero, Ward."

* * * *

Toad was introduced to a French woman who called herself Charlotte, who kept giving him apologetic looks. She had burst in the door with about a dozen armed men, only to find that Barnabas had already been taken care of, and Victoria who had been severely hurt during the fight. Charlotte was sorry for what she had done to him, she said, and had the men fix up Victoria.

He had managed to protect her toward the end, just like he wanted, and Lucy was unharmed. Charlotte was pleased and offered them a ride to Xavier's. Well, actually, she referred to it as 'home.' Quite a far cry from home, he wanted to point out, but accepted the ride nonetheless.

Toad held on to Victoria, who was still knocked out, from power exertion according to Charlotte and heavily bandaged from the battle. He didn't know what to feel exactly. She had saved his life, even though they were like strangers. Was this what Lucy meant when she said that he would help change the future? As though she read his mind, Lucy reached for his free hand and held it, looking up at him and smiling.

"What exactly happened tonight?" He asked Charlotte with a dark expression, looking down at the lab as they flew away. Soon, it was completely out of sight. He felt…different. Was it some kind of dream?

Charlotte handed him an envelope, "Give this to Victoria. She'll explain everything."

Lucy smirked and added, "As usual."


	10. Epilogue: The Aftermath

**Anomaly**

**By CorvidaeCorvusCorax**

**Epilogue: The Aftermath**

_3 Months Later…_

_Dear Lucy,_

_Someone once asked me why I was so interested in saving people. We are higher beings and shouldn't have to help humans, he said. We live in a world of hatred and fear and no one will ever help _us _when _we _need it. The fear blinds us and dictates our every action…_

* * * *

"Professor, did you see this?" A young student, Artie, asked, not turning away from the television screen.

Students were already clamoring over it, debating loudly on whether or not it was true, "Turn it up, I can't hear it!" One irritated student shouted.

"_It seems as though the efforts to stop the Mutant Crisis have been halted by the President of the United States, who now insists that we try to make peace with mutants_," A news anchorman said, "_There have been several uprisings since this public statement, mostly by the religious organization Friends of Humanity…_"

"We did it," Storm muttered to Xavier.

He didn't reply, however. This organization, the 'Friends of Humanity,' would need to be watched very carefully. After what happened with Stryker, he didn't want anyone else trying to harm his students and friends.

* * * *

_Just as thousands before us, we must hide from the world because _we _fear that they will not accept us, and that _we _will be judged because of our differences. Seems silly, doesn't it, Luce? So we spend our lives worrying that someone is out to get us, and we hide behind people like Xavier, who want nothing more than for us to learn how to compromise and live among humans, and want to protect us from them._

* * * *

Logan stood at the front of the school, wondering if maybe it was once again time to leave. Though where would he go, knowing now that the mysteries of his past couldn't be solved after Alkali Lake was destroyed… The nightmares still found their way back to him and threatened to push him away from the others once more.

Maybe a drive would clear his mind...

Kurt Wagner heard the roar of an engine and saw Logan disappear from the road. Seems like he wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep. He absently wondered if he wasn't the only one with nightmares, too.

* * * *

_Or sometimes we hide behind people like Barnabas, who twist the truth and use people like us as weapons. I know that as a precognitive, you will naturally second guess your every move. Heck, even I do it sometimes. I don't want to live like that, Lucy, and I don't want you to live like that either. They can't all be bad...right?_

_* * * *_

Lucy sat outside alone, drawing in her notebook. This wasn't a vision...It was a memory. She smiled, she had never drawn a memory before, it was kind of nice. Victoria was still "sleeping," and Lucy realized slowly that without Victoria, life was different, but she would survive once everything was back to normal.

A droplet landed on the paper soundlessly, smudging a line as it rolled down the page. Was it a tear? She wiped her sleeve on her face, but was happy to know that she wasn't crying like some little kid. Then where did it come from? She looked up at the sky. It went from blue to gray to black very quickly, and rain began falling heavily.

She shoved her belongings into her bag and knew that Storm wasn't having a very good day either. No one was. They had all lost something, and without Dr. Grey, life was too different to recover from.

* * * *

_But you've taught me something amazing, Lucy, with your childlike innocence and aura of hope. Your mother may have isolated us and forced this friendship, but I realize now that it was something we both needed: I needed a true friend worth fighting for, and you needed a trust worthy mentor. And you've taught me that sometimes all it takes is a friendly gesture to show that this world doesn't need second guessing, and that compassion and understanding can change people. _You_ can change people, Lucy._

_* * * *_

"So, after all that, you're leaving me alone with these people?" Toad joked lightly to Victoria as she and Lucy passed. She had packed her things and was on her way out the door, but she made a point to say goodbye to everyone. He stood by the staircase in the foyer, and he would never admit in a million years that he was hoping she would say goodbye to _him, _too.

She turned to him. There was a scar on her forehead that was a reminder of her act of heroism, and his. There was an awkward pause. Her only mission was to turn him to the side of good and prevent Barnabas from destroying the world, and now that it was over, did he _really_ expect her to continue the friendship?

No, he realized, her work was done—she hugged him without warning, embracing him tightly. He would've guessed wrong, he smiled to himself and returned the gesture. He held on to her as long as he could before she loosened her grip and whispered something to him, "I have some business to attend to," She tilted her head back, motioning towards Lucy, "but I'll come back for you...I promise."

She kissed him on the cheek, then turned back to the younger girl, picked up her bags, and led Lucy by the hand, "Come on, Luce, it's time to go home."

* * * *

_I have had an amazing year with you, and it will be quite a story to tell at my graduation party. And even though I'm not going to be a student next year, I'm certain you've already heard that your mother has other plans for me. I _will_ keep my promises to both you _and_ Mr. Toynbee: I _will_ come back for both of you._

_* * * *_

Victoria and Lucy were once again on the train home, but Victoria knew that her work was _far_ from over. She looked down at the letter, hoping to send it to Lucy once the new school year started, and long after Victoria's Plan would be set in motion. The future was looking bright: Toad would wait for her return, Charlotte offered the two a home near Winifred Augusta's, and she would be allowed to train some of the new students next year. Life would be perfect.

She saw that Lucy had fallen asleep against her, the notebook splayed out on her lap. She saw a drawing that made her smile and tear up a little (not that she would admit it). A family portrait of some kind, Lucy standing in the middle, Toad smiling and Victoria holding something in her arms. She couldn't make out what it was, but she could guess. Indeed, life would be perfect.

_* * * *_

_People will never know what really happened that night, and you may have seen that Barnabas has been reported as 'missing' already. Maybe it's for the best. This is a new beginning for us, the possibilities are endless, and until I return next year_—_I wish you luck next semester, you'll need it._

_Much love and appreciation, signed 'Victoria Ward.'_

**THE END**

_

* * *

_

_A/N: Yep, this is the end of the whole mess. Thanks for reading!  
_


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